


100 Ways To Say "I Love You"

by Phoenix_Falls



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Brief Willifer, Brief mention of Emily/Female OC, Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, Femslash February, Fluff, Smut-adjacent, brief angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-23
Updated: 2018-02-24
Packaged: 2019-03-23 03:35:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 100
Words: 36,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13778823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phoenix_Falls/pseuds/Phoenix_Falls
Summary: Each chapter is a sentence prompt from a tumblr post called "100 Ways To Say I Love You." Exploring Jemily from pre-relationship to marriage. Chapter length ranges from drabbles to longer





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> These all take place in a singular canon-divergent AU and are in chronological order to each other. Major canon events are mentioned under the assumption that you've seen the show so there's not much exposition about them and some events have been changed slightly. The timeline itself is nebulous at best, but you can sort of figure out how long this takes by how old Henry is after he's born (I think it's roughly over the course of five to seven years)

  1. _“Pull over.  Let me drive for awhile.”_



Emily frowned deeply and gripped the steering wheel harder as the blizzard outside the vehicle continued to pound down on them, the wind audibly howling through the cracks in the SUV. She glanced in the rearview mirror to find Reid engrossed in a book. Next to her, JJ was staring pensively out of the windshield, tapping her slender fingers against the armrest set into the door and Emily tried not to be aware of the thoughtful glances the blonde cast her way, burning into the skin of her cheek.

The case in Maine hadn’t been a spectacularly difficult one so far, but it had been emotionally draining for Emily at least. Seven women, all closeted lesbians, had been brutally stoned to death in the last six weeks, their bodies left by the side of the road to freeze like road kill. Emily had been especially affected by the crimes. Not that she was in the closet, but she’d barely joined the team and the subject of her sexuality hadn’t come up, which she hadn’t minded, but seeing the broken and bruised bodies of women who stayed in the closet for precisely the reasons they were murdered for, it was too much.

So far, even Reid had asked her if she was okay, so she knew if he knew something was up with her, she must not be compartmentalizing as well as she thought she was. JJ had seemed on the verge of asking her about it too, but Emily had the feeling when she met questioning blue eyes that JJ already knew and was just looking for confirmation. She didn’t seem bothered or surprised and for that, Emily was relieved, as she was really beginning to feel like she and the blonde were getting to be good friends. But still, Emily was a private creature and during a case wasn’t the time to bring up her personal affairs. JJ must have agreed because she was careful to avoid how Emily was doing with the stress of the case, just offering a placating touch when her jaw clenched too hard or her anger seemed too close to the surface.

The harsh ring of JJ’s phone cut through the wintery ambiance and made Emily jump and swear under her breath, losing control of the car for a few brief seconds but they were going so slow she was able to correct before they fishtailed.

“Hotch.” JJ said by way of greeting when she answered the call and letting the other occupants know who was on the other line. “Yeah, we’re out in it now…” she glanced down at the GPS in the dash. “We’re about an hour out from Bangor but it’ll take longer with the blizzard…Great…yeah I’ll let them know. Bye.” She hung up the phone and put it back in the pocket of her winter coat before addressing them both but looking at Emily. “Hotch says that the lead we got from the sister checks out. Victor Daly is our unsub. They’re going to arrest him now.”

Emily nodded knowing by ‘they’ JJ meant Hotch, Gideon, and Morgan. She let out a long sigh as the tightness in her chest loosened for the first time in days but didn’t dare take her eyes off the road, refusing to relax not only because of the terrible road conditions, but because she knew she couldn’t until Victor Daly was in custody. She tried not to let the battered faces of the victims float through her mind, but they came nevertheless. To her horror, Emily felt her eyes water so she gripped the wheel impossibly tighter, blinking rapidly until her eyes cleared. There was no way in hell she was going to cry in front of the team, even if it was just JJ and Reid. She startled again when she felt the pressure of a hand on her arm. Emily looked over at JJ quickly in acknowledgement, but not meeting the blonde’s gaze.

“Pull over.” JJ said, her voice soft. “Let me drive for a while.”

Emily frowned, ready to argue, but any excuse died on her tongue when JJ squeezed her arm gently. Sighing, she nodded and pulled over to the shoulder, leaving the car running and the door open as she unbuckled and got out, jogging around the front of the car to get to the passenger’s seat. When they passed each other in front of the SUV, JJ reached out a hand and quickly ran it down Emily’s arm, whether for comfort or some futile attempt to warm her, she wasn’t sure, but it was appreciated nonetheless.

Back in the quiet confines of the car, Emily watched JJ as she carefully repositioned the mirrors and then guided the SUV back onto the highway with the ease of someone who had done a lot of winter driving. JJ turned her head at the feeling of eyes on her and smiled with warm understanding at the older woman, Emily suddenly grateful she’d been out in the maelstrom so that it would hide the blush she could feel creeping up her neck. She settled into her seat and tilted her head back, closing her eyes.


	2. Chapter 2

_2\. “It reminded me of you.”_

JJ slid her hand into her purse and felt the book for the tenth time that morning. Was this weird? _No_ , she told herself, _it’s not weird unless you make it weird. You buy presents for Garcia and Reid all the time, right?_ She nodded her head firmly. _Right_. Stepping out of the elevator on the sixth floor, she made her way through the halls on her way through the bullpen to where her office was, hoping she’d catch Emily before everyone else got there. It wasn’t too far-fetched a hope, Emily was a workaholic and often showed up as early as she and Hotch did, which was saying something.

Pushing open the glass doors to the BAU, JJ immediately noticed that while Emily’s computer was on and there was an open file on her desk, the brunette was nowhere to be found. Noting that her coffee mug was gone too, JJ changed her trajectory to get to the kitchenette near the break room, trying not to psych herself out. Why did this feel so weird when she frequently doted on her friends? It wasn’t that she and Emily weren’t friends, she may not have been with the BAU very long, but Emily fit into their family perfectly, like she was always supposed to be there. _It’s weird because you have a stupid crush on her_. JJ grimaced internally at the thought and pushed it away.

She had pegged Emily for being some flavour of Sapphic when they’d first met, the woman absolutely exuded gay vibes, but she hadn’t gotten confirmation until a few months ago, after a case in Maine and Emily had opened up, something she normally didn’t do. Knowing that her friend was vulnerable despite how well received she was, JJ—in a show of solidarity—had told her she was bisexual, to let her know she wasn’t alone and no one was going to treat her differently. Emily had seemed grateful at the time, laughing when Garcia chimed in with the fact that she was pansexual and now they could be “the Queer Musketeers.” It had been the first time JJ’d seen a laugh actually reach Emily’s eyes and she knew from that second, she was going to be a goner.

Still, it wasn’t so bad at this point, just a little crush. A little harmless daydreaming, nothing that would interfere with work or their budding friendship and that’s what mattered. She found the brunette parked in front of the coffee pot, watching the liquid trickle into the carafe with impatience. Emily turned at hearing JJ’s footsteps and offered the blonde a smile. “Hey,” she greeted. “Have a good weekend?”

JJ hummed and nodded, reaching past Emily to retrieve her favourite mug from the cupboard and setting it on the counter. “It was okay, I went antiquing with my sister-in-law.”

“That sounds fun. Did you get anything?”

JJ was grateful that Emily had turned away from her to pour coffee into her cup so she couldn’t see the blush on her face. “Actually, I got _you_ something.”

Emily didn’t even try to hide her shock, her eyes going wide under raised eyebrows. “Me?”

“Mm-hm. It was practically a steal.” JJ pulled the book out of her purse and handed over the small, green, leather bound book as nonchalantly as she could.

“Carmilla?” Emily queried, reading the title. “I love this book!”

“It reminded me of you.” JJ replied, proud of herself for not mumbling. She was rewarded with one of Emily’s Real Smiles, which she returned readily.

“Thanks, Jayje!” She said sincerely, tucking the book under her arm, grabbing her full coffee mug and going back to her desk, JJ’s gaze following her out.


	3. Chapter 3

_3\. “No, no, it’s my treat.”_

“I don’t think I’ve ever eaten so much in my life.” JJ admitted, patting her over-full stomach. She was definitely putting on sweatpants when she got back to the hotel.

Across from her, Emily laughed and nodded. “I’m ten seconds away from undoing my belt.” She admitted.

They’d had a child abduction case in Vermont that had wrapped up relatively painlessly, but they were grounded until the next day because of a severe storm in DC. The team, minus Hotch, had all gone for drinks at the hotel bar. Rossi had begged off early, followed a few hours later by Morgan and Reid, leaving JJ and Emily alone, neither of them wanting to retire for the night. When Emily suggested they go grab a bite to eat, JJ had readily agreed, thinking they were going to go to the hotel restaurant. Instead, they ended up at a place swank enough that JJ felt underdressed even in her work clothes where Emily seemed to know some of the staff. She explained that she went there with her Mother sometimes (Emily always had this way of saying ‘mother’ when talking about her own that implied the first letter was capitalized) and they had eaten richly.

They’d finished dinner quite a while ago and were nursing the rest of their wine to prolong the evening. Truthfully, it was the best meal JJ had probably ever had. That, coupled with the company had her feeling okay about probably having to dip into her savings to pay for such extravagance. As if on some telepathic wavelength with the staff, the suited man who had been serving them breezed by and placed the bill on the table between them with his thanks before disappearing again. JJ reached for the billfold that contained the bill and looked up in surprise when Emily snatched it away quickly.

“No, no, it’s my treat.” She said, flipping the billfold open and giving the bill a perfunctory glance before fishing a card out of her wallet and putting it in so it stuck out of the top. “Honestly, it’s no big deal.” She reassured JJ who had raised a dubious eyebrow.

“Emily…” JJ started. She knew Emily had money, though she hadn’t quite conceptualized how much until she saw the location and size of her apartment for the first time but that didn’t mean she wanted to take advantage of her friend.

“Forget about it.” Emily insisted firmly with a shrug. “I was going to come here before we left anyway and you saved me from having to do it alone.”

JJ let out a small sigh but leaned back to show she was folding. She knew Emily was telling the truth. Emily liked to show people she cared about them through the thoughtful use of money; she had that in common with Rossi. Similarly, fighting either of them about it was tantamount to telling them you didn’t want their affection and far be it from her to give Emily even a remote idea that she didn’t want her affection.


	4. Chapter 4

_4\. “Come here.  Let me fix it.”_

Emily was already awake when her phone rang at ten past two in the morning. Muting the late night trash TV she was watching, she frowned at the caller ID on her cellphone displaying JJ’s name and quickly answered it, it must be a really bad case to call everyone in so early.

“JJ?”

“Emily?!” JJ was voice was high and near panicked. “I-I can’t find it!” she was sobbing and though Emily could barely understand her through the hiccupping and crying, she had already sprung off her couch and was running towards the stairs to get her shoes from the closet.

“JJ, what’s wrong?” Emily breathed out, fear constricting her chest so hard that by the time she made it up the stairs she was out of breath.

“I just had it!...I…it’s gone!” JJ wailed.

Emily pulled out the first pair of sneakers her free hand landed on and cradled the phone between her shoulder and ear so she could tug them on. “What’s gone?” she said as soothingly as she could but it was useless, JJ was hysterical. “I’m coming over, okay?” she paused, waiting for some acknowledgement and only receiving a list of places JJ had looked for whatever was gone. “Jennifer!” Emily said loudly but calmly. JJ immediately stopped talking though Emily could still hear her crying. “I’m coming over, okay?” she repeated.

“O-okay. Please hurry.” JJ sounded small and broken. Emily had never heard her like that before and the blonde hung up before she could promise she’d hurry.

Adrenaline coursing through her, Emily grabbed her keys and took off towards JJ’s like a bat out of hell, not caring that she was wearing her pyjamas and no coat. She made record time to her friend’s house, the whole time running through worst-case scenarios in her head. JJ was only on the third floor and with the elevator at the top of the building, she took the stairs three at a time, suddenly grateful for all the bleacher lunging Morgan had conned her into. She knocked on JJ’s door urgently, mindful of the time. JJ must have been standing near the door because it opened seconds later and when she saw Emily, what little resolve she’d found left her and she started sobbing again.

Emily immediately stepped over the threshold and gathered the blonde in her arms, closing the door and guiding them to the couch. JJ had balled a fist around the material of Emily’s tank top and sunk her head on her shoulder and Emily just let her cry it out, muttering soothing nonsense words, rocking her gently. When the worst of the sobbing was over, Emily pulled JJ away from her a little bit to look into red-rimmed eyes that were wide on her tear-streaked face. “What happened, Jayje?” she asked softly as if any louder volume would set her off again.

JJ took a great shuddering breath and whispered, “Rosaline’s necklace,” a fresh batch of tears slipping down her face, though they were silent this time.

“We’ll find it.” Emily promised, her voice full of conviction. “Together, okay?”

JJ wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and nodded, seemingly drawing strength from Emily’s calm. “I…I looked everywhere.”

Emily nodded, not doubting that for a second but if JJ had been in the kind of state she was when she had called, she could have easily missed something. Emily stood up from the couch and held out her hand, which JJ took with no further prompting. “Show me where you looked.”

They went through the apartment top to bottom, all the while Emily trying to keep JJ calm. She had known about JJ’s sister Rosaline after Emily had been mourning the loss of her friend Matthew. It wasn’t the same kind of loss, but they both felt the burden of survivors guilt; somehow responsible for their loved ones deaths. Emily had nothing left of Matthew but a picture when they were mere teens, but she knew if anything happened to it, she’d be a mess too.

An hour later, they had checked everywhere but the guest bedroom which was where they were now, JJ standing in the middle of the room looking tiny and lost while Emily checked under the bed. Not finding anything there, she rose from her bent over position to her knees and happened to cast her gaze under the armoire where she saw something shiny. Careful not to assume the best, Emily patted the carpet around the foot of the armoire and came up with the missing object: a delicate silver horseshoe on a thin silver chain. “Here!” Emily declared triumphantly, getting back to her feet and handing the necklace over when JJ rushed to her side.

Tears of relief washed through the blonde as she took it with a shaky hand and inspected it for how it could have fallen off. “It’s…it’s broken.” She mumbled, throat dry and scratchy from crying.

Emily moved out of the room towards the kitchen, beckoning JJ to follow her which she did at a zombies pace. “Come here.” She said gently when JJ stood uncertainly in the doorway of the kitchen. “Let me fix it.”

“Can you?” JJ asked hopefully, her voice cracked.

“I can try.” Emily promised. That seemed to be enough for JJ because she handed the necklace over and Emily flipped on the recessed lighting under the cabinets to get a better look. It was a simple fix; the clasp had just bent out of shape. Knowing her way around JJ’s kitchen already from numerous Girls Night’s spent there, she pulled out a pair of needle nose pliers from the junk drawer and carefully righted the skewed angle of the clasp, inspecting her work carefully before stepping behind JJ and sweeping the blonde’s loose hair to one side to fasten it around her neck. “There. Right where it’s supposed to be.”

JJ turned around to face Emily, her eyes downcast and her lower lip lodged between her teeth. “I’m sorry.” She sniffed

“Hey,” Emily countered resting her hands on JJ’s shoulders. “No apologies necessary, okay? I’m always here for you, Jen, no matter what.”

JJ looked up with watery blue eyes into Emily’s warm gaze and felt a smile tug at the corner of her mouth, pulling the older woman into a tight embrace. “Thank you.” She said. It had barely come out as a whisper but Emily must have heard her because she tightened her arms around JJ


	5. Chapter 5

_5\. “I’ll walk you home.”_

Emily was drunk. Not the good kind of drunk, where you floated in a warm social haze of delightful lightheadedness. No, she was sad-drunk. Heartbroken-drunk. Never-dating-again-drunk. JJ frowned at the normally put together woman across from her and shared a look of concern with Garcia who had just gotten up to leave for the night. “Take care of our girl,” the zaftig hacker whispered to JJ before squeezing her arm in sympathy and leaving the bar.

“Mother was right.” Emily slurred acrimoniously, staring at the worn tabletop they sat at. JJ wasn’t even sure if she knew Penelope had left. “I’mmuna die alone.”

JJ resisted the urge to roll her eyes in disgust even though Emily wasn’t looking at her. Of _course_ Elizabeth Prentiss had said something like that. She reached across the table to still Emily’s hands from picking at the label on her beer bottle, drawing the brunette’s bleary gaze. “You are _not_ going to die alone, Emily.”

Emily blinked hard a few times before pulling her hands out from under JJ’s. “S’easy for _you_ to say. You got Billiam.” She paused when JJ chuckled and corrected herself. “William. What’ve I got?” she casually tossed her hands in the air on either side of her head and made air quotes. “’The emotional availability of a rock and commitment issues.’” She frowned and dropped her arms. “She was right.”

Emily was referring to her now ex-girlfriend, Mika Johnson. Mika had been the only real relationship JJ had ever seen Emily in since they’d known each other. Emily tended to keep sexual conquests sexual and not get into the whole “romance thing.” She was like Morgan that way and the two of them bonded frequently about it. JJ had been surprised when Emily continued to go on actual dates with the woman after the initial hookup. To tell the truth, she was a little jealous too. JJ still harboured a crush on Emily that at this point, was so strong, it sometimes physically pained her. She was constantly pushing away the little voice in the back of her mind that said it was more than a crush because it didn’t matter. Emily didn’t feel that way towards her. JJ felt guilty for the jolt of satisfaction that ran through her when Emily had sent the group chat containing herself, Garcia, and JJ, the text that Mika had dumped her.

“She wasn’t right.” JJ disagreed, shaking her head. “You’re not emotionally unavailable, it just takes a devoted kind of person to get past all your walls.” Emily nodded sourly but didn’t look like she believed what JJ was saying. “And you’re the most committed person I know!” she continued. “You’re committed to your job, committed to your friends…it’s not your fault that Mika didn’t inspire that in you.”

Emily nodded again and let out a depressed sigh, only looking up when JJ slid out of the booth. “You’re leavin too then, I guess.” She said morosely, her body language defeated.

JJ reached across Emily’s seat and tugged the brunette’s arm until she was standing next to her, swaying slightly. “Come on, I’ll walk you home.” She announced, grabbing Emily’s arm with one hand and slinging it around her shoulder and slipping her other arm around Emily’s waist.

They shuffled unsteadily for a few feet until Emily got the hang of how her motor functions worked again and they made their way out of the bar and into the night air. Luckily, they were only a few blocks from Emily’s apartment and the older woman was moving mostly under her own power though JJ was loathe to let go to test how stable she was on her own.

They managed to get to Emily’s apartment in one piece, JJ steadying her friend against the wall near her door while she pulled out her own key to Emily’s apartment and unlocked the door. “I’mmuna hafta get my keys back from Mika.” Emily mumbled, dragging her feet as she walked into her apartment and keeping a hand on JJ’s shoulder for stability. “An gedder fuggin clothes outta my fuggin closet.” She added for good measure, leaning against JJ as she led them over to the couch.

JJ hummed a noise of encouragement, not wanting Emily to think she wasn’t listening and went to the bathroom medicine cabinet for a couple tablets of Tylenol. She filled up a large glass of water and presented both items to Emily who stared at them for a moment before comprehending and taking the pills. This was as upset as JJ had ever seen Emily without someone dying before and it made her livid. She wanted to shake some sense into Mika, for Emily’s sake. She sat down next to the brunette just as Sergio jumped up on the couch between them.

“Thisis all I need right here.” Emily murmured, absentmindedly stroking the cats sleek black fur. “Right, Serg? Jus me, an you, an JJ.”

JJ bit her lip to give physical sensation to the bolt of emotional pain that quickly shot through her. Emily didn’t mean it the way JJ heard it, and even if she did, she was drunk as hell. “Should we try and get you upstairs to bed?” she said instead of addressing the previous sentiment.

Emily’s gaze snapped up like she had forgotten JJ was there and she stared at her curiously for a moment. JJ couldn’t read the expression on her face and that unnerved her as she’d become somewhat of an expert on Emily Prentiss’ facial expressions. Emily’s eyes slipped away from JJ’s and she sighed deeply. “Nah. Won’t make it.” She said, flopping dramatically onto her back and kicking her shoes off.

JJ nodded and patted her friend’s leg fondly. “Do you want me to stay?”

Whatever Emily’s reply was came out as a long hum as she immediately fell asleep. Smiling affectionately and shaking her head, JJ got up to refill the glass of water and set it on the coffee table before covering Emily with the blanket on the back of the couch.


	6. Chapter 6

_6\. “Have a good day at work.”_

JJ scowled as she woke up to the urge to go to the bathroom. Again. “You’re killing me, kid.” She informed her son, patting her swollen belly as she made her way to the en suite. Again. She could smell that Will had made coffee and it made her foul mood even worse. JJ had very few vices, honestly. She was a sucker for angular features, industrial music, and coffee. But for the sake of her child, she’d given coffee up altogether and tea just wasn’t cutting it.

Washing her hands in the sink, she looked at her reflection and stuck her tongue out petulantly at herself. She didn’t like the way she looked or felt pregnant. Nothing fit right, her ankles and feet were swollen, she had to walk like a penguin, and goddammit she had to pee every ten minutes. Will thought she looked gorgeous, but had stopped complimenting her at her request. She felt like he was just saying it to say it, to make her feel better. Truthfully, she only believed Emily even when she said the same things. There was something in Emily’s tone, some kind of reverence almost, that made her believe that the brunette was being sincere. Sighing, JJ carefully made her way downstairs where Will was standing at the counter, filling his travel mug with coffee.

“Mornin, chere.” He greeted, smiling at her.

She did her best to smile back as she sat at the table. It wasn’t Will’s fault she was hormonal and ornery. Well, okay, it _was_ kind of his fault obviously, but that was no reason to take it out on the poor man.

“Want me to fix you somethin before I leave?” he asked, screwing the lid on his mug shut.

JJ’s stomach lurched at the thought of food. Thankfully, the morning sickness had past by this point, but there were still some things that just set her off. Today, apparently, it was breakfast food. “No, I’ll grab a muffin at work or something.” She tilted her chin up when he came around to her and kissed her on the cheek.

“Alright, I’ll see you tonight then.” And with that, he was out the door.

JJ contemplated briefly making some toast, but decided to take her own advice and grab something at work. Trudging back upstairs, she checked the time and wished she could be with the team. They were out in the field in Idaho while she was no longer cleared for air travel. That, and she had a temporary replacement to train. Hearing her phone go off as she was shuffling her way to the master bathroom, she picked up her phone from the nightstand, wondering if Will had forgotten something. It was a text from Emily.

 _‘Wish you were here to balance out all the testosterone!’_ It read. ‘ _I hope your replacement search goes better today. Have a good day at work! <3’_

JJ smiled and started to get ready for her day in a much better mood.


	7. Chapter 7

_7\. “I dreamt about you last night.”_

JJ laughed at the image before her. Penelope and Morgan were attempting to teach Spencer the electric slide and it was going terribly in spectacular fashion. She had missed going out with the team. Between having a baby at home, her job, and her boyfriend getting on her about an answer to his marriage proposal and desire for her to quit the BAU for something “safer,” she had been wound pretty tightly these days.

She and Will had been having a lot of problems as of late, but she hadn’t told anyone. She knew in her heart that it wasn’t going to last much longer, but the idea of raising a child on her own terrified her. Despite their frequent arguments about what JJ should be doing with their relationship and what she should be doing as a career, he was a good man. He was safe. She frowned at that thought and pushed it away as quickly as it had come up. Across from her, Emily seemed intensely focused on divesting the label from her beer bottle, a nervous habit.

“What’s wrong?” JJ asked, raising an eyebrow in amusement when Emily looked up sheepishly and stopped fiddling with her bottle.

“Just thinking.” She replied nonchalantly with a shrug of her shoulders, but her body language was tense.

JJ nudged one of Emily’s feet with her own under the table. “Talk to me, Em.”

Emily shook her head for a moment and sighed. “I dreamt about you last night.” She said softly. It was clear that hadn’t been what she’d intended to say by the perturbed look on her face.

“Was it bad?” JJ asked equally as quiet, refraining from covering Emily’s hands with her own when she started messing with the paper label again.

“No…” she trailed off, rolling her tongue over her lower lip briefly. “Yeah.” She amended faintly.

They had just come off a case where the victims had all been women who were blonde haired, blue eyed, and petite. None of them could help but see JJ in their victimology, but it seemed Emily had not shaken it off yet. JJ reached across the table and stilled one of Emily’s hands by curling their fingers together. “I’m okay.” She said, squeezing Emily’s fingers and ducking her head to meet Emily’s gaze.

“I know,” Emily sighed. “I just…I couldn’t…”

“I know.” JJ interrupted with an understanding nod. They stared at each other for several long moments, not saying anything. Not needing to say anything. Finally, Emily smiled and gave JJ’s fingers a squeeze before retracting her hand. JJ tried not to think about how much she missed the contact already.

“You want another beer?”

JJ shook her head and lifted the half full one in her hand, watching Emily slip off to the front of the bar.


	8. Chapter 8

_8.“Take my seat.”_

“Jesus, Prentiss, you’d think you’d have learnt to duck by now.” Morgan teased as he wheeled his partner through the hospital corridors, only just barely resisting the urge to make motorcycle noises.

“I can’t help it that I have the kind of face that unsubs seem to love to hit.” Emily protested dourly. They were in Washington for a case involving bodies being dumped on hiking trails in a state park. They’d managed to corner their unsub in an abandoned ranger shack but not before he had smacked Emily in the head with a piece of nearby lumber. She’d needed a few stitches for her forehead and twisted her ankle pretty badly when she’d fallen and the only reason she was allowing Derek to push her in the wheelchair was because it was hospital policy when they gave muscle relaxants and she wanted to hurry up and get the hell out of there.

“Maybe we’ll get you a mask.” Morgan said thoughtfully, jerking the chair back for a second to pop a wheelie and grinning at the glower Emily gave him for it. He parked her just inside the exit doors and left with the promise to bring the car around so they could meet the others at the airport, helping her gingerly load herself into the SUV when he did.

“How are you feeling?” Hotch asked with concern the minute she boarded the jet.

Emily forced herself not to scowl at him. “Fantastic!” she enthused, limping down the aisle to the back of the plane where she could brood in peace. She spotted JJ on the couch and gave her a tight smile, trying to reassure her she was okay.

“Here,” the blonde said, standing up immediately. “Take my seat.” She moved to the chair directly across from Emily and sat down, leaving the couch free for her to elevate her ankle.

Emily smiled her thanks and got situated, lying down as much as she could and only half listening to the debriefing as her painkillers started to kick in.


	9. Chapter 9

_9.“I saved a piece for you.”_

Emily was late. Emily was _so_ late. Emily was never late for anything unless there were extreme circumstances. She figured having to schmooze her way out of staying till the end of another one of her Mother’s functions only _sort of_ counted as extreme. She sighed and rounded the corner to JJ’s block, looking for a free parking space. She had called to warn she may be late before she’d even left for the function so it wasn’t like they didn’t know she was going to be late, but the idea that Henry wanted her there for his second birthday had her violating all manner of traffic laws to get to JJ’s house.

Finally finding parking, she quickly picked up the decorative bag containing Henry’s present from the passengers seat and with minimal rearranging of the white tissue paper, she walked as fast as she dared in heels to JJ’s front door. She checked the delicate gold watch linked around her wrist. Emily had come directly from the gala to JJ’s and she sort of wished she had gone home first, as she missed the utilitarian bulkiness of her normal timepiece. Sighing and smoothing down her hair self-consciously, she knocked on the door and took a step back.

Less than a minute later, JJ opened the door, a grin on her face. “You made it after all.” She said, moving aside to let Emily in. JJ gave a low whistle as Emily stepped into the foyer. “Geez, Em, I always seem to forget how well you clean up.” She said appreciatively.

Emily patted at the deep purple, ankle length dress she wore with a nervous smile; too busy looking at what she was wearing to catch the way JJ’s eyes raked over her form. “I haven’t gone home yet.” She said, her tone unsure.

“Relax! It’s just us!” JJ pointed out, taking the gift bag from Emily. “Take your shoes off, have a seat…even though I think you’re going to give my ugly old couch a midlife crisis.”

Emily laughed, more at ease and followed JJ into the living room, toeing out of her shoes and groaning with relief as her sore feet became free of their glam prisons. She noticed that there were remnants of the birthday party that had gone on; toys swept off to the side and a few stray balls of wrapping paper that hadn’t made it to the garbage yet. Emily frowned. She was so late. “Where’s Henry?”

“He went down for a nap a while ago.” JJ said from the kitchen. “Sugar crash. Wine?”

“Please.” Emily listened to JJ mull around the kitchen while she took in the living room décor. She liked JJ’s old apartment better, but this had more signs of life in it. Having a toddler would do that, she figured. She took in the pictures on the entertainment center, smiling at ones of the team, of Henry and JJ just after he was born, Penelope and Henry, Reid and Henry, one of JJ, Penelope, and Emily on some long ago Girls Night (not to be confused with Ladies Night), she noticed there were few pictures of Will aside from pictures of him with Henry and JJ, and tried not to profile anything about it. Truthfully, she often forgot Will lived here too as her mind had resolutely decided that it was never going to remember “JJ and Will’s house” so had dropped the “and Will’s” pretty much the day they moved in together. She tried not to think too hard about _that_ either.

JJ came into the living room with two glasses of wine, balancing a small plate on top of one of them. “Henry’s birthday cake.” She explained, presenting Emily with the plate after setting the glasses down. “I saved a piece for you.”

Emily smiled and took the slice of what appeared to be red velvet, which she confirmed on first taste with a pleased hum. “I’m sorry I’m so late.”

JJ shrugged. “You’re here, that’s what matters, right?”

Emily nodded and they slipped into easy conversation until their wine was finished at which point JJ got up to wake Henry. She came back a moment later carrying the boy whose blonde hair was stuck up every which way and was still rubbing his little fist against sleepy eyes.

“Em’ly!” he squealed on seeing the brunette, suddenly awake. He stretched his arms out and leaned away from his mother, trying to get to Emily who took him carefully. She always felt like she was going to break him.

“Hey little man!” she said brightly. “Happy birthday!”

“Burfday!” he repeated, grabbing onto a lock of Emily’s hair.

Emily gently disentangled her hair from the toddler’s grip and turned him around in her lap, placing a kiss on his head. “I got you something!” holding onto Henry with one arm around his middle, she leaned over and plucked the bag off the coffee table and put it in front of him where he promptly pulled out several pieces of tissue paper and waved them around, delighting in the crinkling sound they made. “If I had known he was this psyched about tissue paper, I wouldn’t have bothered with the present.” She said to JJ who laughed.

“Look in the bag, Henry!” JJ urged while scooting closer to Emily and tipping the bag so she could help her son pull the present out. She let out a shocked little gasp when she pulled out a replica of the Velveteen Rabbit. She had mentioned to Emily years ago, before she and Will were even together, that if she ever had a kid, she wanted to read them the Velveteen Rabbit every Saturday because that’s what Rosaline had done when they were little. “Oh, Em…” she said gently, touched that Emily would remember something that had been more or less a throwaway comment in a larger discussion.

Emily looked up from where Henry had lodged one of the fuzzy rabbit ears into his mouth and smiled softly at JJ, her gaze momentarily unguarded. JJ leaned over and kissed Emily’s cheek in gratitude, smiling when the brunette blushed and started to fuss over Henry to distract attention from that fact.


	10. Chapter 10

_10\. “I’m sorry for your loss.”_

“I…I’m sorry for your loss.” Emily said a little awkwardly, unable to help the small smile that formed when JJ laughed at her turn of phrase.

“God, Emily, we broke up, he’s not _dead_.” JJ said, shaking her head.

“Well, you’re mourning the loss of a relationship, so…” Emily pointed out, spearing a cherry tomato on the end of her fork. They were having dinner in some Podunk town in Arizona while on a case. JJ had chosen that time to inform her best friend that she and Will had called it quits a few weeks ago. Emily couldn’t help the ripple of gratification that had run through her at the news, but she was trying to do Best Friend Duty and console JJ, though apparently she didn’t need it. “Why didn’t you tell me when it happened? I thought you were happy.”

JJ shrugged and ate one of her fries before answering. “We’ve had cases pretty much back to back for the last three weeks, I just haven’t had the time to tell you. If it makes you feel better, you know before Garcia does.”

Emily nodded and smiled. “It does, yes.”

“As far as happy? I guess. I mean, I wasn’t _miserable_ , but that’s a terrible reason to stay with someone. If Henry hadn’t come along when he had, we probably wouldn’t have even lasted this long.”

Emily hummed in agreement without coming out and saying she’d always believed Will wasn’t good enough for her. _Neither am I_. She thought with an internal grimace, taking a forkful of food to keep the expression from showing up externally.


	11. Chapter 11

_11\. “You can have half.”_

“What if we’re stuck in here forever?”

Emily snorted and rolled her eyes at JJ’s idle question but she had to admit, it was starting to feel like forever. They’d been stuck in the elevator at Quantico for at least two hours already while maintenance tried to figure out what had malfunctioned. They’d met up early that morning to use the buildings gym before work, but now it looked like they were both going to be late.

“This is what we get for trying to be healthy.” Emily warned, looking at her companion who sat on the floor across from her with her knees up, a position Emily mirrored. The red emergency light was the only thing that illuminated the car.

“This is what we get for not taking the stairs.” JJ amended.

“We work on the _sixth_ floor.” Emily pointed out incredulously. She fished around in her duffle bag that sat next to her and pulled out a sports bottle full of water, holding it out to JJ who shook her head politely. “Come on, Jayje. You haven’t had anything to drink since we’ve been in here and I definitely drank more water than you when we were working out.” Waving it side to side a bit to try and make it more enticing she added, “You can have half, if you won’t drink the whole thing.”

Reluctantly, JJ took the bottle and drank a little, only realizing how parched she really was when the water hit her throat so she drank some more. “Thanks.” She said, handing the bottle back.

“Better?” Emily asked, taking a drink herself.

“Much.”


	12. Chapter 12

_12\. “Take my jacket, it’s cold outside.”_

Emily loved the Upper Peninsula of Michigan precisely four months out of the year, which was when it wasn’t snowing. They were cutting it close with this case. It was beautiful out, the air was crisp, the leaves had changed colours and were beginning to drop off of the trees. It was warm apple cider and pumpkin picking weather, not hunt down serial killer who drowns his victims in Lake Superior weather. And yet, here they were, all crowded around the phone speaker in the room at the local PD they’d set up in to listen to Garcia give them the latest update.

Emily pinched the bridge of her nose to stave off a headache. She felt like they were going around in circles and judging from the somber faces around the conference table, the rest of the team thought so too.

“Run those IDs for any background information you can find; focus on domestic violence and child abuse flags.” Hotch was saying, staring at the pinup board where the faces of the victims stared back.

“Righty-o!” Garcia’s chipper voice sounded fuzzy and tinny over the little speaker, but it brought a smile to all their faces. “I’ll get back to you in two shakes, Garcia out!” the line went dead as Penelope disconnected and JJ pressed a button on the phone so they wouldn’t have to hear the dial tone anymore.

Hotch looked at his watch, his jaw clenching and unclenching almost imperceptibly. “We can’t really do anything until we hear back from Garcia.” He said.

“But she should be back with info pretty quickly.” Rossi pointed out.

Hotch nodded and glanced at his watch again. “Alright, get some air, stretch, meet back here in twenty.”

Everyone nodded and started to get up from the table. “I’m going to get some _real_ coffee.” JJ announced, pressing two fingers to her forehead. She touched Emily on the shoulder, pulling the brunette out of whatever she had been thinking about while staring at the map on the table. “You want to come?”

Emily shook her head. “I’m going to stay here with Reid and go over the geographical profile of the abduction sites again. I feel like we’re missing something…” she trailed off as she went back to studying the map.

“I’ll go with you, JJ.” Morgan said, rolling his head to release some of the tension out of his neck.

JJ nodded and addressed Emily; “I’ll bring you back a coffee then.” She dropped her hand away from Emily’s shoulder when she nodded distractedly. “Spence? Coffee?”

“Yes, please.” Reid replied, not looking away from what he was doing.

“Take my jacket, it’s cold outside.” Emily suggested, glancing out of the window. The sun had started to go down already and the temperature was dropping.

JJ nodded, shrugging on Emily’s pea coat and shoving her hands into the silken pockets before she followed Morgan out into the blustery evening.


	13. Chapter 13

_13\. “Sorry I’m late.”_

It had been an extremely rough year. Emily’s past had come back to haunt her in the form of Ian Doyle. He hadn’t made it out of that warehouse where the final showdown took place alive, but Emily had just barely made it. She had been tortured, a cloverleaf burned forever into the skin above her heart, she had even been impaled just before Morgan showed up and shot Doyle in the chest. The physical recovery was miserable, but the psychological recovery was worse. She had been doing a lot better lately, partially thanks to JJ. JJ who had literally left an important posting that she’d been transferred to in order to come to Emily’s aid and afterwards, instead of going back to work, she took a partial sabbatical to help her recover and managed to get back into the BAU. Emily was grateful that she had decided to give the team her location after hearing Garcia’s impassioned plea on the voicemail of one of her old phones. It had probably saved her life.

Now though, was the time for another step in her recovery. It had been JJ’s idea really, to cover the clover brand with a tattoo. She’d suggested something transformative, like a phoenix but on seeing Emily’s reaction to that idea, changed her mind and said a blackbird. Emily had always liked the song, identified with it in a melancholy sort of way. It fit her perfectly.

She was currently sitting on the plush red couch of a brightly lit tattoo parlour, nervously chewing on her thumbnail and tapping a foot. She wasn’t particularly worried about the tattoo itself, she already had one on her upper right ribcage and one on her lower back, so she knew what kind of pain to expect, but this was different. It was special. It was something she didn’t want to do alone, now that she was really learning what it meant to not be alone. Emily checked her watch, not knowing what time she was looking for. She had already approved the artists sketch several days before and her appointment had technically started three minutes ago. Her artist had said he was ready to go whenever, but she wanted to wait.

As if in response to Emily’s thoughts, JJ rushed into the tattoo parlour and Emily’s whole demeanor opened up. “Sorry I’m late!” JJ said, still a flurry of movement until she stopped in front of Emily, panting slightly. “The babysitter cancelled on me last minute!”

“It’s okay, you’re here now, right?” Emily responded with a smile.

JJ nodded. “Right.” She agreed, holding out her hand. “Ready?”

Emily felt her heart flutter. How close had she come to losing a chance like this? To never being able to tell the people she cared about how much she cared? “Will you let me take you to dinner some time?” she blurted while she still had the nerve.

“Like a date?” JJ asked, uncertain if she was inferring meaning where there wasn’t any.

“Yeah, like a date.”

JJ grinned. “I’d love to go on a date with you.”

“Okay, then I’m ready.” Emily said with a matching grin, pulling herself up by the proffered hand.


	14. Chapter 14

_14\. “Can I have this dance?”_

“Does this count as our first date?” JJ asked curiously, arranging her silverware onto her plate like Emily’s to indicate she was done with dinner.

“God, I hope not.” Emily responded, smiling slightly when JJ laughed lightly.

Ambassador Prentiss had requested (demanded) her daughter’s attendance at a dinner function. The formal invitation had been sent to her job so as not to “get lost” (thrown away) like so many others where it had been immediately intercepted by Garcia who wanted Emily open such a fancy looking envelope in her presence. There was, unlike most invitations, a plus one included. It was no secret that Elizabeth preferred her daughter bring men to these types of things despite knowing her daughter was a lesbian, and Emily had seriously considered hiring a “worst possible date” from Craigslist, had actually been discussing the idea with Garcia and JJ over drinks when JJ suggested Emily take her.

Emily had recoiled, not wanting to subject anyone she cared about, let alone had feelings for, to her Mother, but JJ insisted that she’d put on her press liaison face, a nice fancy dress, charm the dickens out of everyone so brilliantly that they would be far too dazzled to be scandalized by the gender of Emily’s date, and the Ambassador would end up with egg on her face. Emily had reluctantly agreed, if only because JJ seemed so enthusiastic about it. She often forgot how intriguing these kinds of functions were for people who didn’t grow up with being forced to attend them. Thus far, JJ had indeed beguiled and delighted every person Emily introduced her to.

“I suppose you’re right.” JJ conceded, taking a sip of her wine. “I would much rather be someplace where we’re both comfortable for our first date. Besides,” she added as almost an afterthought. “I don’t like this many people calling me ‘Jennifer.’ It feels weird.”

The live band, which had been playing atmospheric music for dinner, struck up a waltz and people began to move to the dance floor. Emily watched JJ’s fingers tap against the linen covered table in time to the music and made an executive decision. Pushing herself delicately away from the table she stood and held her hand out to JJ. “Can I have this dance?” JJ smiled and took Emily’s hand, following her out to the dance floor where they quickly fell into a smooth box step. “You’ve been holding out on me, Agent Jareau.” Emily accused with a playful tone.

JJ grinned and lifted one shoulder. “You’re not the only woman who has ever taken me ballroom dancing, Agent Prentiss.” She retorted, easily picking up the pace as the band switched to a Viennese waltz.


	15. Chapter 15

_15\. “I made your favourite.”_

“You’re telling me, that out of _all_ the places you’ve lived in, out of _all_ the international cuisine you’ve sampled, that your _favourite_ food is,” JJ paused for dramatic impact. “ _Macaroni and cheese_?”

“ _Baked_ macaroni and cheese, thank you very much.” Emily corrected with a haughty sniff. They were on the phone, Emily having gone with Rossi to do a custodial review in North Carolina. They’d only been gone a few days, but Garcia insisted they have a Girls Night the _second_ Emily got back. They had settled on doing a more subdued version at JJ’s house because she wasn’t able to get a sitter for Henry.

“Oh sorry, _baked_ mac and cheese.” JJ said sarcastically. “Big difference.”

“It is!”

“Well you and Henry have favourite food in common then.”

“The boy has good taste.”

“Em, he eats _dirt_ if I don’t watch him.”

“Many cultures practice geophagy, he’s just being worldly.”

JJ snorted. “Are you still on your way over? Garcia should be here in a few minutes and I’m making dinner.”

Emily glanced down at the GPS set into the dashboard. “We should be back at Quantico in half an hour and I’ll leave from there, so I’ll be there in a couple hours.”

“Okay, sounds good. See you soon!”

They said their goodbyes and Emily hung up, making conversation with Rossi in Italian to pass the time. Soon Emily was guiding her car down JJ’s familiar street, pulling into a free space and stretching as she got out of the car. She had keys to JJ’s house, but she always felt weird about using them, so she knocked on the door and waited.

“Wonder Woman!” Garcia greeted her brightly, pulling her into the house. “Get your cute butt in here!”

Emily laughed at the bubbly blonde and half stumbled past the threshold with the added momentum, following her into the kitchen where JJ was setting Henry up in his high chair. “Em’ly! Em’ly! Em’ly!” the toddler shouted at the sight of her, banging on the tray in front of him.

“Ah yes, the Regional President of the Emily Prentiss Fan Club.” Garcia said with a snicker. “Jayje, you want me to grab dinner out of the oven?”

“If you could.” JJ said gratefully, smiling as Emily bent down near Henry to babble at him before sitting down across from her.

Garcia returned moments later, her hands covered with oven mitts shaped like shark mouths and holding a casserole dish full of baked macaroni and cheese.

“You made my favourite?” Emily asked excitedly, her mouth already watering.

JJ laughed and nodded. “I made your favourite.” She confirmed.


	16. Chapter 16

_16\. “It’s okay.  I couldn’t sleep anyway.”_

JJ lay awake staring at the ceiling of yet another hotel in yet another city. For some reason, her racing mind wouldn’t settle down. She sighed and rolled over to stare at the other occupant of the room. Emily was on the bed across from hers, sprawled out on her stomach and her head underneath the pillow instead of on it, dead to the world. JJ smiled fondly in the dark and moved to lie on her back.

She and Emily had been on a few “official” dates, though Garcia had recently planted it in her head that they’d basically been dating since they met each other. She liked the idea that Emily had had feelings for her that long, but felt it was unrealistic. Wouldn’t she have known? She turned her head to look at the sleeping brunette again. Emily was infamous for her compartmentalization skills and it admittedly took JJ quite a while to learn how to read her.

She frowned. But Emily hadn’t even kissed her yet. JJ had gone to Garcia with her worries, concerned that maybe Emily had only _thought_ she felt something for her and didn’t know how to back out, but Garcia pointed out that JJ probably knew more about Emily than anyone and that was bound to freak her out. Not to mention JJ had a kid, which threw a level of commitment into the mix that a lot of people shied away from.

JJ expelled air quietly through her lips and grabbed the pillow next to her, slamming it over her head in frustration. They had to be up early, they were on an active case, _and_ she wasn’t even technically supposed to be dating Emily anyway. Just as JJ was beginning to drift off, she heard a muffled groan that certainly hadn’t come from her, JJ lifted the pillow off her head and looked over at Emily who had at some point rolled onto her back and was whimpering pitifully, her head shaking back and forth.

Getting out of bed straightaway with unease, JJ crossed the short distance between them and sat on the edge of Emily’s bed, smoothing her hair away from her face and making reassuring shushing noises. It seemed to work for a moment until a desperate scream tore out of Emily’s throat and she bolted upright, wild-eyed and not quite awake. Her breaths came out in laboured pants and she was shivering despite the relative warmth of the room.

“Emily, I’m right here.” JJ stated comfortingly, putting her hands on either side of Emily’s face and forcing the other woman to look at her. Emily struggled against her grasp for a second before recognition dawned on her face.

“Jennifer?” she whispered, her voice cracked and distressed.

“It’s me, I’m right here.” JJ repeated. She watched as Emily’s tension seemed to deflate at the acknowledgement and she dropped her gentle grip from Emily’s cheeks to wrap around her back and pull the other woman toward her. It took JJ a moment to register Emily’s heaving shoulders as signs of her crying because she didn’t hear anything; the sobbing was so quiet, but when she did JJ did the only thing she could think of, hummed “Blackbird” while running a hand in soothing circles on Emily’s back.

JJ couldn’t recall ever really having seen Emily cry before. She’d seen her with tears in her eyes, she’d seen a few frustrated teardrops that fell during her physical therapy after she’d been hurt, and she’d seen her when she’d come back from crying in the bathroom on her own, but she couldn’t recall a time in the nearly five years they’d known each other that she’d ever been around Emily while she was in the actual process of crying. JJ felt a conflicting tightening and swelling inside her chest at the thought. She knew Emily had night terrors sometimes, which had gotten really bad after everything with Doyle, and her heart ached for the woman, but on the other hand, she felt so privileged that Emily trusted her enough to be that vulnerable with her.

JJ noticed that Emily’s shoulders had stopped shaking so she stopped humming; the only sound in the room for long minutes was Emily sniffing and the rustle of JJ’s hand running over the cotton of Emily’s tank top. Eventually, Emily pulled out of her embrace, wiping her wet eyes on her arm just before her expression crumpled in embarrassment. “I’m sorry I woke you.” She muttered, her tone full of self-deprecation.

“It’s okay,” JJ assured, surprising Emily by nudging her over and climbing under the comforter next to her. “I couldn’t sleep anyway.” She held her arms open and watched as Emily deliberated for a moment before settling down, facing her. “I’m right here,” JJ reminded her quietly, waiting for Emily’s nod before adding, “I’m not going anywhere.”

Emily met JJ’s gaze, her pupils large in the dark. JJ held the eye contact, aware that Emily was trying to ground herself and flattered that she was using her to do it. JJ cupped Emily’s jaw, running her thumb along the other woman’s cheekbone. Emily sighed contentedly, finally somewhat centered and closed the short distance between them to press her lips to JJ’s. The kiss was chaste but sweet and JJ’s mind managed to register how soft Emily’s lips were through her initial shock before their brief contact was over almost as soon as it had begun. JJ leaned over and kissed Emily’s forehead, acknowledging the initial kiss for what it was; not a prelude to passion, not a declaration of romantic love, but gratitude and love between people who were more than friends.


	17. Chapter 17

_17\. “Watch your step.”_

The dilapidated building was a hazard on bricks, but they moved through it silently. Morgan and Emily led the way before they stopped and allowed JJ and Reid to catch up on Morgan’s signal from their last position and repeated the process. There were two unsubs in here somewhere, they had been chased in and the only way out was through them. Cornering an unsub was like backing a wild animal into a corner, let alone two, made doubly dangerous by the fact that they were armed.

They came to a suspended walkway that looked shoddy at best, but they had to clear the whole building. Morgan nodded at Emily indicating he was taking point and he slowly advanced across the walkway, taking several wide steps to avoid holes in the grating. Emily cast a glance behind her, meeting JJ’s hyper-alert gaze. “Watch your step.” She whispered just loud enough for the blonde to hear her, only following after her partner when JJ gave her a firm nod.


	18. Chapter 18

_18\. “Here, drink this.  You’ll feel better.”_

Despite having the dietary habits of a 21-year-old college bachelor, Emily rarely got sick. When she did however, it was always with the most mutated, medication-resistant strain of whatever had been going around. It seemed logical that someone who didn’t get sick often would be the kind of person who would take the time to take the best care of themselves when they _did_ get sick, but amazingly, so much of what JJ knew about Emily Prentiss did not operate on sound Earth Logic.

Everyone could see she was fighting off sickness valiantly, but she was losing and refused to concede. A trashcan had been parked next her to desk fairly early on and it was full of balled up tissue and throat lozenge wrappers. She was pale, even for her, except around her nose, which was red, and around her eyes, which were almost bruised-looking. To put it as nicely as possible, she looked like death warmed over, made worse by the lack of sleep due to the case they’d just wrapped up in Wyoming.

JJ watched her friend sniff pitifully in her sleep, her head leaning against the window of the jet and shook her head with affectionate annoyance. Morgan, who was across from Emily, was the only one willing to sit near her because he somehow got sick even less than she did. He lifted his head from the backrest, apparently having not been asleep and pulled the one of the earpieces of his headphones back so it rested just behind his ear, leaning across the aisle after catching JJ’s eye.

“You gotta do something about Patient Zero.” He said, tilting his head toward Emily as if it hadn’t been clear he was talking about her. JJ was not only unofficially the team mom, but she was the only one Emily would really listen to outside of himself, and he’d already tried.

“Already on it.” JJ assured him with a nod. That seemed to placate Morgan as he put his earpiece back over his ear and leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes.

As they were making their way to their cars after deplaning, JJ waited until Emily caught up with her before looping an arm through hers and pulling her past her car and down the lot.

“Where are we going?” Emily asked hoarsely.

JJ hummed and took Emily’s go-bag from her when they reached the blonde’s car, tossing it into the backseat along with hers and opening the passenger’s side door for Emily. “ _We_ , are going to my house where _you_ will let me take care of you before you infect the whole DMV with the zombie plague.” She leaned over and kissed Emily’s forehead lingeringly before adding with a frown, “you’ve got a fever.”

JJ had been prepared for a fight, but Emily nodded slowly and got into the car, pulling her seatbelt on with sluggish movements. Surprised, but pleased, JJ shut the door and got into the driver’s seat, heading for her place. Five minutes into the drive, Emily had passed out again, half waking herself up with a watery coughing fit every so often. JJ stopped at the pharmacy and ran in to grab what she needed, leaving Emily asleep in the car with the heater going.

“Em,” JJ prodded, shaking Emily’s arm gently.

Emily made a displeased noise in the back of her throat before pressing a fist to her mouth as she gave a phlegmy cough. “Hng?”

JJ shook the Robitussin bottle in her hand and popped the safety seal on it before unscrewing the cap handing it to Emily. “Here, drink this.” She urged. “You’ll feel better.”

Emily took a drink directly out of the bottle and grimaced after she swallowed. “Someone should tell them that is _not_ what a cherry tastes like.” She complained, her voice gravelly.

JJ laughed and patted Emily’s leg, waiting until she screwed the cap back on before steering them towards home again.


	19. Chapter 19

_19\. “Can I hold your hand?”_

“JJ…” Emily started with mirth in her eyes when the realization hit her. “Are you actually, _scared_?”

“No!” JJ lied as she shook her head vehemently, worrying her lower lip between her teeth. They were in Tennessee, the case that brought them there behind them, but Hotch had wanted to give their pilot a night’s rest before they left the next day. Somehow, she had managed to let Emily talk her into visiting a twenty-four hour, year round haunted house. Well, not somehow, Emily’s excitement had been infectious at the time and JJ had always been a sucker for a pretty face and brown eyes so she found herself agreeing to go despite her very real hang-ups about supernatural things. “It’s just…Thomas always put things like this in my head when I was a kid and…I don’t know, it kind of still freaks me out.”

Emily nodded at the mention of JJ’s older brother and shuffled forward as they moved ahead in the queue. It was one thing to take Henry to a spooky maze at the Fun Fair, but they were going to have to sign a waiver before entering this place, something Emily had seemed positively gleeful about. “We don’t have to go in, you know.” Emily offered, her voice low and sincere. “But I’ll make sure nothing happens to you if we do.”

“I don’t know.” JJ said, not wanting to give in to her own irrational fears or ruin Emily’s good time in equal measure. “Can I hold your hand?”

Emily grinned and wordlessly slipped her hand into JJ’s, their fingers automatically entwining.


	20. Chapter 20

_20\. “You can borrow mine.”_

JJ frowned and pulled out her phone to send Emily a text message: _‘I just made it home from McKeesport. Drive was okay, but I lost that book you got me at my moms!’_ she wrote, referring to Kurt Vonnegut’s _Breakfast of Champions_. Emily had bought her a copy after she and Morgan had been discussing it at work a few weeks back and had made it sound so interesting. JJ felt terrible for losing it, especially since she was really getting into it but her mother’s house was practically a liminal space where things you really wanted to keep only had a tenuous grasp of the physical plane.

 _‘It’s fine!’_ Emily’s quick reply came. _‘You can borrow mine.’_

_‘You sure you want to lend me something you care about while Henry is going through his Draw On Everything stage?’_

_‘I trust you.’_


	21. Chapter 21

_21.“You might like this.”_

“Why are you getting rid of so much anyway?” Emily asked curiously from where she sat on JJ’s bed, bouncing Henry in her lap.

“Because, I have too much _stuff_.” Came JJ’s muffled reply from the depths of her closet. She leaned back to stick her head out of the door. “Also, if I get rid of a bunch of stuff, I have room for more stuff, right?”

“Ah yes, the ancient ecosystem of capitalism.” Emily replied with a smirk, tickling Henry under his chin when he laughed and clapped his hands. “What are you laughing at? You don’t even pay bills!” she teased him in a singsong voice.

“Yeah, that kid really isn’t pulling his weight around here.” JJ joked, rolling her eyes. She pulled a box toward her that had been in the very back of the closet. “Oh no way!” she exclaimed on taking out some of the contents.

“What?” Emily asked interestedly.

“You might like this.” JJ said, launching a black t-shirt at Emily where it hit her chest and fell over onto Henry’s head, which caused him to dissolve into a fit of giggles.

Emily removed the shirt from his head and set Henry on the floor carefully, making sure he was happily preoccupied with his Velveteen Rabbit before holding the shirt up in front of her to get a look at it. The blocky letters coloured in blue, yellow, and green, declared ‘Heaven Up Here.’

“Is this an Echo and the Bunnymen shirt?” Emily asked, already knowing the answer.

“Yeah!” JJ enthused, sitting back on her heels. “I went through a whole post-punk thing when I was younger.”

“I never would have guessed.”

“That’s because there aren’t any pictures.” JJ replied with a wink.

“I thought we agreed to never even casually reference my high school yearbook photo?”

“Did we? I don’t recall.” JJ grinned. She bit her lip thoughtfully before saying, “you can have it. I mean, if you don’t already have fourteen like it at home.”

Emily rolled her eyes. “There’s a lot to hate about you, Jennifer Jareau.”

“Hardly. I’m incredibly charismatic and delightful.” JJ laughed, only just managing to dodge a decorative pillow Emily had thrown from the bed.


	22. Chapter 22

_22\. “It’s not heavy.  I’m stronger than I look.”_

JJ frowned at the pulling sensation on her arm as the doctor stitched her up. This time, the case had been local which had been a relief because she got to go home every night and she supposed another plus was when she got between a knife wielding unsub and the latest victim, she got to go to familiar ER staff to get the deep wound closed.

“I don’t want you lifting anything over fifteen pounds with this arm for the next two weeks,” the doctor said as he clipped the last suture thread and covered the area with a bandage. “To give the muscle time to recuperate.”

JJ nodded inattentively and half listened to him list a variety of anti-inflamatories and antibiotics he was writing her prescriptions for before fitting her with a cloth arm sling and discharging her. She hopped off the bed and collected her jacket, dangling it over her good shoulder with her free hand.

Emily was in the waiting room, where JJ had left her, and the brunette stood when she saw JJ, placing her hand protectively at the small of JJ’s back as they walked back to her car.

“I can’t pick anything up over fifteen pounds for two weeks.” JJ informed her with a pout as they pulled away from the pharmacy after filling the prescriptions. “I was supposed to move Henry’s big boy bed into his bedroom this weekend.”

“I’ll do it.” Emily offered quickly, shrugging when JJ looked doubtful. “It’s not heavy. I’m stronger than I look, you know.”

“Really?” JJ replied, her tone teasing. “Because I’ve seen you in a tank top and you’re pretty buff. If you’re stronger than _that_ , that’s just cheating.”


	23. Chapter 23

_23\. “I’ll wait.”_

They were enjoying the weekend off at JJ’s house, watching cheesy movies and drinking wine. As Garcia had long since passed out on the loveseat, Emily had pulled a DVD out of her go-bag of a psychological thriller she and JJ had been discussing seeing when it first came out. Work and life had gotten in the way, so they never did see it before it came out to own, so Emily had taken the initiative and bought it without watching it and figured now was as good a time as any since she knew Garcia would never watch it with them.

They had been so thoroughly engrossed in the plot and stunning visuals, that when Henry’s voice calling out to JJ mournfully crackled over the baby monitor, it had startled them both. Emily quickly leaned over and turned the volume on the monitor down so as not to disturb the sleeping tech analyst. “You want me to pause it?” Emily asked, hand already groping next to her for the forgotten remote as JJ stood up, walking backwards out of the room so she didn’t miss anything.

“No,” JJ replied with a shake of her head. “If he woke up this late, he probably had a bad dream and it’ll take a bit to get him back down again.”

Emily smiled and pulled the remote out from between the cushions next to her, hitting the pause button. “I’ll wait.”


	24. Chapter 24

_24\. “Just because.”_

The Miami heat was oppressive. It was wet and muggy they’d only gotten a reprieve from it while in the air-conditioned police station. They had hoped that when the sun went down it would be a little better, but now it was just dark, and wet, and muggy. To make matters worse, the air-conditioning in the hotel they were staying at had gone out the day before they got there and while hotel staff was ‘working on it,’ they didn’t know when it would be running again.

When Emily and JJ had trudged up to their shared room after Hotch dismissed them from the station around one AM, the first thing JJ had done was open the window and the balcony door. The air that was circulating was thick and warm, but it was better than stagnant, stale heat. Exhausted, they had mechanically gone through their regular routine whenever they had to share a room: Emily using the bathroom first for the shower and to brush her teeth, and then JJ to do the same when Emily emerged to brush her hair, smiling tiredly as they passed each other.

JJ felt a little more alert after the coldest shower she could manage, sweat immediately prickling on her skin the second she stepped out of the bathroom. Emily was sitting on her bed, pictures of the five crime scenes scattered over the bedspread, determined to work until she couldn’t keep her eyes open. Not in the mood to revisit the heat-bloated corpses of the victims, JJ all but flung herself onto her bed and closed her eyes.

“Is the light keeping you up?” Emily asked after hearing JJ let out a morose sigh, breaking the verbal silence between them for the first time since they’d gotten to the room.

“No, it’s too hot to sleep.” JJ groaned, standing up and stripping her bed of the blankets, leaving just the bed sheet and searching her toiletry bag for a hair tie. She tried not to notice Emily’s eyes on her, but it was difficult when she kept wondering if they were thinking the same things. Emily had gotten ready for bed in her customary tank top, but rather than the loose pyjama pants she normally wore, she had opted for a pair of boy shorts, her long legs on display. JJ normally slept in something similar, a camisole and pyjama bottoms, but she had worn the pyjama bottoms for all of ten seconds before she decided it was too hot and just went with her underwear.

Neither one of them was showing any more skin than a one piece bathing suit would, but it was different now that they knew what each other’s mouths tasted like, what each other’s roaming hands felt like. They had both wanted to take things slowly despite what their bodies said. Had wanted to make sure they could do this, whatever it was, and still work together without compromising the team so they hadn’t done anything beyond some intense make out sessions, but if those were anything to go by…JJ shook her head free of the thought and finally located a hair tie. She bent over slightly; tilting her head down so gravity could help her gather her long hair into a higher ponytail.

“Stop it.” JJ chided, not turning around as she shoved her toiletry case back into her go-bag. “I can feel you staring at me lecherously.”

“I’m not.” Emily protested, sounding guilty before mumbling, “it’s too hot anyway.”

JJ turned and shuffled over to Emily, plucking the crime scene photo out of her loose grasp without looking at it and dropped it on the bed with the others, leaning down to kiss her. Emily’s hands immediately went to JJ’s hips as she half turned in her seat to get better access. They reluctantly pulled apart mere moments later, both a little red-faced from more than just the heat.

“Not that I’m complaining, but what was that for?” Emily asked, picking up the discarded picture as JJ tried to find a comfortable position on her bed.

“Just because.” JJ stated simply, closing her eyes. “Don’t stay up too late, Em.”

“Goodnight.”


	25. Chapter 25

_25\. “Look both ways.”_

“I think the sign is broken.” Garcia muttered with displeasure as they stood waiting for the walk signal.

“I vote we just go.” JJ suggested before doing just that.

“Look both ways!” Emily reprimanded, following JJ out onto the crosswalk, Garcia on her heels.

JJ laughed and turned her head so she could see the brunette. “It’s a one way street!”

Emily shrugged. “That’s how much faith I have in humanity.”


	26. Chapter 26

_26\. “I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean to.”_

Fire and electricity ignited every one of JJ’s nerve endings at the breathy moan that escaped from between Emily’s lips as JJ trailed kisses down the pale column of her neck. JJ had Emily pinned underneath her by straddling the other woman’s hips and gripping her hands against Emily’s shoulders, keeping her back pressed to the bed.

JJ groaned when Emily’s hips rose into her, the brunette’s hands moving back and forth between JJ’s back and the tops of her thighs. JJ moved back to Emily’s mouth to kiss her deeply, blindly working at the buttons on her blouse while Emily nipped at JJ’s lower lip. Gasping for air, JJ pushed the material of the shirt to both sides impatiently before covering the thin red material of Emily’s bra with her hands, immediately feeling her raised nipples pressing into her palms.

JJ pulled back and sat up just enough to gaze into eyes dark with desire, a shiver rippling through her as Emily’s warm hands slipped under her shirt to the skin of her abdomen. JJ raked her well-manicured fingernails gently down Emily’s sides, taking a moment to admire the purple iris tattoo on Emily’s ribcage that she’d never seen before and smiling smugly when the brunette’s eyelids fluttered at the sensation. She traced a careful hand around the jagged scar on Emily’s left side from where she had been impaled and tried not to think of how close she’d come to losing her. Instead, JJ kissed the blackbird tattoo over Emily’s heart tenderly before moving back to her lips.

They rocked fruitlessly against each other, each seeking friction that didn’t seem to be enough with their clothes on. When Emily tugged up on the hem of JJ’s shirt, JJ didn’t hesitate to pull the offending garment over her head and toss it behind her where it was promptly forgotten, not even letting Emily enjoy the sight of her in her bra before discarding that as well. Emily grinned up at JJ, her expression nothing short of feral and JJ yelped in surprise when Emily reversed their positions suddenly so she was on top, kissing down JJ’s neck.

JJ took advantage of this new position by wrapping her legs around Emily’s waist, unhooking Emily’s bra, letting it fall down her forearms and stay bunched at her wrists for a moment while JJ was distracted by the brunette’s deft fingers rolling her nipples tightly before she managed to toss that somewhere into the depths of the room as well.

“Em…” JJ tried minutes later, her voice hoarse. “Emily…” Emily hummed into her neck and bit down where JJ’s shoulder turned into the column of her throat. “Emily!” she gasped.

Emily registered in some dim part of her brain that JJ was trying to say something, so she pulled back, pleased with how disheveled JJ looked. “What’s wrong?”

JJ cupped the side of Emily’s face with one hand and ran her thumb along the skin of her cheek, smiling when Emily closed her eyes and leaned into the touch. “Nothing,” she assured, unhooking her legs from around Emily’s waist and guiding the other woman down to lie on her side next to her. “I just thought we were going to wait?”

Emily ran her hand idly up and down JJ’s side, her eyes that had been clouded over with lust turning warm. “I don’t know about you, but I think we’ve done _quite_ enough of that.”

JJ closed the small space between them and kissed Emily gently. “I think you’re right.” Her breath hitched when Emily brought their lips back together hungrily and no more words were exchanged between them for several hours until they both lay naked, heaving, and practically spent in a tangle of sheets.

“That was…” Emily panted, wiping at the sheen of sweat that had formed on her brow.

“Mm-hm. It was.” JJ agreed breathlessly. They lay smiling dopily at each other for a few minutes, high on endorphins until JJ sat up and scooted off the bed, tugging at Emily’s ankle. “Come on.”

“Come on, what?” Emily asked, grinning cockily when JJ wobbled on unsteady feet for a second.

“We’re all sweaty.” JJ pointed out walking backwards across the room and hiking her thumb over her shoulder towards the en suite. “So we should…” she nodded, not needing to complete her thought, as Emily comprehended what she was saying and quickly got off the bed to follow her into the bathroom. JJ leaned against the counter to watch Emily fiddle with the shower and caught her reflection out of the corner of her eye. Turning to face herself, JJ smirked at her mussed appearance. She was smoothing her hair back futilely when she pushed the hair back from her neck and saw it. “Emily Parker Prentiss!” JJ hissed, causing the woman in question to turn quickly, her eyes wide and hands held up in a placating gesture.

“What?!”

“Don’t you _what_ , me, look what you did!” JJ said loudly without pulling her gaze from the mirror.

Emily moved so that she was behind JJ and looked to where she’d tilted her head to one side, exposing her neck. High on her throat was a large purple bruise in the shape of Emily’s mouth. “Oops.” Emily said, not sounding the least bit contrite.

“I can’t show up to work with a _hickey_.” JJ said sternly, watching the brunette’s reflection. “I am someone’s _mother_!” Her expression softened involuntarily as Emily laughed and snaked her arms around JJ’s waist.

“I’m sorry.” Emily said sincerely, kissing the mark. “I didn’t mean to. We can put makeup on it.”

JJ leaned back into the embrace and met Emily’s gaze in the mirror, smiling wickedly. “Guess, I’ll just have to get you back, huh?”

 


	27. Chapter 27

_27\. “Try some.”_

“JJ, that is _disgusting_.” Emily laughed, watching again as her girlfriend dipped a cheeto in ranch dressing and ate it.

“Says the woman who _enjoys_ the taste of black licorice.” JJ shot back, unoffended.

“Hey, you leave my salmiak alone!”

JJ snickered and dipped another cheeto in the ranch before holding it out to Emily between her thumb and forefinger. “Try some.”

Emily regarded the offending offer warily until JJ raised an eyebrow in challenge. Leaning delicately forward, Emily took the food from JJ making sure to run her tongue along the side of her finger as she did so. She chewed thoughtfully for a moment, considering the taste. “It’s okay, I _guess_.” Emily acknowledged.

JJ nodded firmly as if that settled everything, it was as much as an admission of being wrong as she was going to get and that worked for her.


	28. Chapter 28

_28\. “Drive safely.”_

“Robert Jameson, FBI!” Emily hollered, her gun drawn and pointed at the man in front of her who was holding a teenaged boy in a vice-like grip, the blade of a knife pointed dangerously at his throat. “It’s over, put the knife down.”

“Do what she says.” Rossi advised next to her, his own gun trained on the man as well.

Robert Jameson’s eyes darted back and forth between Rossi and Emily before shoving the boy hard and bolting out of the door that had been behind him. He only got about five feet before he ran directly into Morgan who swiftly brought him down with a shout.

Hearing the yell from outside, Emily glanced over at the teenaged boy whom Rossi was attending and holstered her gun, pulling out her phone and placing a call to Hotch who picked up on the first ring. “We got him.” Emily said into the receiver. “Along with the last kidnapping victim.” She ended the call when Hotch told them to meet back at the station and sent a text to JJ that they were on their way back.

‘ _Drive safely <3’_ came the reply moments later.


	29. Chapter 29

_29.“Well, what do you want to do?”_

“Will took Henry to his parents for the week…” JJ murmured lowly so she wouldn’t be overheard, perching on the edge of Emily’s desk.

“Oh yeah?” Emily asked interestedly, raising an eyebrow.

“My place or yours?” JJ leaned her weight onto one hand and resisted the urge to shudder at the lascivious once over Emily gave her. “Or do you want to go out?”

“Well, what do _you_ want to do?” Emily asked genially, leaning away from JJ subtly as Morgan and Reid came back from the break room. Before JJ could reply, Hotch’s office door being opened drew their attention.

“Conference room in ten.” He said briskly.

“Rain check.” Emily promised.


	30. Chapter 30

_30\. “One more chapter.”_

Emily trailed off and looked down from her book at JJ whose head was in her lap, eyes closed. Emily ran a hand through blonde hair gently a few times before leaning over to the end table to grab her bookmark.

“Why’d you stop reading?” JJ hummed sleepily, opening her eyes.

“You’re falling asleep.” Emily pointed out with a smile.

“Just a little bit more?” JJ mumbled, blinking lazily. “I like the sound of your voice.”

“Okay,” Emily agreed, caving easily. “One more chapter.” She opened the book again and picked up where she’d left off.


	31. Chapter 31

_31\. “Don’t worry about me.”_

JJ swore under her breath as their suspect rounded a corner, momentarily disappearing from sight. She kept up the sprinting pace she’d started in chasing him, hearing Morgan and Emily not too far behind her. Rounding the same corner, she came out onto a busy street and JJ pushed herself harder, desperate not to lose him but he must have gotten far enough ahead, it was like chasing a ghost. “I got him!” she yelled, finally spotting him half a block in front of her as he ducked into an alley.

Barely slowing down as she pulled her gun, she had just stepped into the mouth of the alley when she heard a loud bang, followed by a terrible pain in her chest that knocked her on her back, hitting her head on the ground. Her vision went blurry, but she could see the shape of the unsub who had shot her scrambling over the chain link fence at the end of the alley just as Emily skidded to a stop next to her, shouting her name.

“Go!” JJ shouted, trying to catch her breath again. Morgan sped past them, hopping the fence as well. “I’ve got a vest on!” the bullet had lodged firmly in the Kevlar under her shirt, saving her life but not from the swollen bruise she knew would be there when she took it off later. Her vision cleared a little and she met Emily’s worried brown eyes. “Don’t worry about me.” She insisted, letting Emily help her into a sitting position.

Emily shook her head and called for an ambulance before saying, “Morgan can get him.”


	32. Chapter 32

_32\. “It looks good on you.”_

JJ hurried home as fast as she could. She’d had to stay late again and her usual babysitter had cancelled on her last minute. She had been relieved when Emily offered to pick Henry up from preschool, but the later it got, the more she worried. She hadn’t heard from Emily since the other woman text her to say that they had made it home in one piece and while JJ trusted Emily with everything she had, she couldn’t stop the intrusive thoughts that something terrible had happened, the feeling growing and gnawing at her when JJ got no response to the text she had sent that said she was on her way home.

It was with extreme trepidation that JJ entered her house, senses on high alert for anything amiss. When she heard Henry’s delighted squeal followed by peals of laughter from her son and her girlfriend, all the tension uncoiled in JJ and she followed the sounds to the kitchen, smiling at the sight.

Henry was standing on a chair at the newspaper covered kitchen table wearing only a Spider-Man pull-up and at least five different colours of paint splotched all over him. Emily was wearing her typical sleepwear, but she too, was covered in paint. The two of them were taking turns dabbing each other with wet paintbrushes and laughing at the result, the various painted on pieces of paper that were still on the table left abandoned. JJ stood in the entryway to the kitchen for a moment, just watching the two of them interact, her heart swelling. Emily noticed her first.

“Look who’s home, buddy!” She said brightly, pointing at JJ.

“Mommy!” Henry shouted joyfully when he turned around. “We’re painding!”

JJ laughed and crossed the room to drop a kiss on a clean spot on Henry’s forehead. “I see that!” she replied, leaning across him to give Emily a kiss too and in the process planting her hand directly onto a paper plate with green paint pooled onto it.

“Uh-oh.” Henry intoned, recognizing that JJ’s clothes were not play clothes and she shouldn’t get paint on them. “Gotta wipe it off!”

JJ nodded her agreement and stepped around the end of the table to reach Emily better. “Gotta wipe it off!” JJ echoed, smearing her hand down the front of Emily’s tank top, leaving a green, hand-shaped streak and causing Henry to laugh loudly.

“Oooo, you’re in _big_ trouble!” Emily threatened, though she was trying not to laugh.

JJ moved past Emily to the kitchen sink to rinse off the remainder of the paint on her hand. “It looks good on you!”


	33. Chapter 33

_33\. “Close your eyes and hold out your hands.”_

“I have something for you.” JJ said when Emily opened her apartment door instead of greeting her.

“What is it?” Emily asked cautiously, noticing JJ’s arms her behind her back.

“Close your eyes and hold out your hands.”

“Jen, I’m not really in the moo-”

“Do it!” JJ interrupted.

Emily sighed and did as she was told. Her eyes flew open when JJ placed a warm fuzzy weight in her hands and she hugged the cat to her chest where he began to purr loudly. “Sergio!” she exclaimed, stepping back into her apartment so JJ could come in too. “Where did you find him?” He had gotten loose a few days previous and Emily had almost given up hope of seeing him again.

JJ closed the door behind her and scratched the cat’s soft head. “He was just kind of waiting for me in the parking garage when I pulled in, believe it or not.”


	34. Chapter 34

_34\. “That’s okay, I bought two.”_

“So you won’t tell Morgan even though he keeps pestering you.” JJ pointed out. “Are you ever going to tell _me_?”

“Tell you what?” Emily asked, feigning ignorance.

JJ rolled her eyes. “What the hell a Sin To Win Weekend is!”

Emily tapped her index finger against her lips like she was deep in thought. “I suppose, but you _can’t_ tell PG because it’ll get right to Morgan and I like torturing him.”

JJ nodded impatiently, leaning closer to Emily on her girlfriend’s couch to show she was ready for some serious gossip. “I swear it won’t leave this room.”

“Well, it started out in the twenties as an invite only way for gay high rollers to get together in Atlantic City and drink during prohibition. Now, it’s more like a biannual invite only queer bacchanal with a high stakes poker tournament at the end of the weekend.” Emily shrugged. “We mostly use it as an excuse to dress really fancy, get wasted, and spend irresponsibly.”

“When is it?” JJ asked eagerly, clearly intrigued. “How do we get an invite?”

“The next one is actually next month, but you have to be on a special list to even get an invite to buy tickets.” Emily leaned back, her eyes mischievous. “There’s only a two week window to buy in and that was eight months ago.”

JJ’s face fell. “Oh, that was too long ago to get tickets now.”

“That’s okay,” Emily grinned. “I bought two.”


	35. Chapter 35

_35\. “After you.”_

“Okay, this is the _best_ gelato you’ll ever have in your life.” Emily assured JJ while pulling the container out of her freezer. “It’s imported.”

“Best ever in my life?” JJ started skeptically. “Sounds hard to believe.”

Emily shook her head with a smile and pulled open the container, setting a spoon in front of JJ. “After you.”


	36. Chapter 36

_36\. “We’ll figure it out.”_

“What if they reassign one of us?” JJ asked worriedly, running a hand through her hair while she paced in front of her couch were Emily sat. “What if they force us to resign?” The team had guessed at the real nature of their relationship the previous week and while they had their full support, and it had been long enough that they had proved they could work together with no problems, Hotch still had to report their relationship to Strauss. JJ stopped in front of Emily who had been listening to her ramble nervously for some time without interjecting and glared at her accusingly. “How can you be so calm?”

Emily reached out and grabbed both of JJ’s hands, kissing the palm of her left hand and pulling her until she sat down. “It’s going to be fine, Jayje.” She said gently.

“You can’t know that! So much could go wrong!”

“From what I understand, those anti-fraternization bylaws are because of Rossi anyway, and he’s totally behind us.” Emily reasoned. “I doubt they’ll make one of us resign and as stupid as reassigning either of us would be, I’ll volunteer to go to another unit if it comes down to it.”

“No, Emily!” JJ protested. “The BAU needs you too and it’s your dream job! I don’t want to be the reason you miss out on that!”

Emily tucked some of JJ’s hair behind her ear. “I’m not worried, I’m sure it’s going to be fine. And if not? We’ll figure it out. Together.”


	37. Chapter 37

_37\. “Can I kiss you?”_

“We can still back out.” Emily joked, though her tone was hopeful. After JJ had made such a good impression at the Ambassadors gala and Emily had made it clear that she and JJ were going to be a couple for as long as she could help it, what Emily had warned would happen, finally happened. Elizabeth Prentiss requested (demanded) they have tea, just the three of them. They were standing in front of the Ambassadors ostentatious property in McLean, gathering their wits.

“We can’t duck your mother forever, Emily.” JJ pointed out sternly.

“We could try?”

JJ laughed softly and shook her head, grabbing Emily’s hand when she stepped back after ringing the doorbell. Moments later, the huge oak door opened to reveal a tall man in a well-tailored butler’s uniform. “Miss Emily,” the man said, his voice warm. “How good it is to see you! With Miss Jareau, I presume?”

Emily nodded with a smile, tugging JJ behind her as she allowed herself to be ushered into the foyer. “It’s been a while, Anthony; how’s Hannah, has she graduated yet?”

“Yes, just last month in fact. Well remembered!”

“Pass along my congratulations, please.”

“Of course, Miss Emily. Please excuse me, I’ll announce you at once.”

“Don’t worry about it, we’ll get her.”

“Of course, she’ll be in the drawing room.”

“Thanks.” Emily replied as she pulled JJ further into the house.

“I feel incredibly underdressed right now.” JJ admitted as they walked through a spacious living room to a wide hallway on the other side.

“You look beautiful.” Emily assured her, squeezing her hand and bringing them to a stop outside an ornate door.

JJ watched with no small amount of fascination as Emily’s posture straightened impossibly further and her expression became unreadable. A process she and Garcia secretly referred to as The Ambassador Junior. Emily let go of her hand to slide the door open revealing a large room that reminded JJ of a simultaneously homier and upscale version of a waiting room.

Elizabeth Prentiss rose from where she was perched delicately on the edge of one of the couches reading a book which she put down on the low table around which the room focused and waited for her daughter to come to her, arms outstretched. Emily did so, moving with an almost unnatural and studied grace. They didn’t hug, at least, JJ definitely wouldn’t have called it hugging; they grasped each other’s forearms and leaned their upper bodies towards each other to make it easier to press first one cheek and then the other together.

“Mother.” Emily greeted, stepping aside as Elizabeth held her hand out for JJ to shake. “You remember JJ, I’m sure.” JJ noted that Emily’s voice had taken on a detached, carefully enunciated quality.

“Yes of course.” Elizabeth smiled as JJ shook her hand with a firm grip but the gesture didn’t reach her eyes. “Pleasure to see you again. Please, have a seat.”

Emily waited until JJ sat down before she did as well, sitting close enough that they were invading each other’s personal space, but far enough apart that they weren’t touching. “I hear you’re going back to Belgium soon.” Emily said. “You must be pleased.”

That was the opener to the stiffest hour and a half of conversation JJ had ever been involved in in her life. While the tone had remained polite, Elizabeth had been very prodding about how JJ felt about the amount of money Emily had, if she planned on having any more children, and if JJ had any intention of marrying her daughter, and truthfully, if she hadn’t been so skilled at rerouting, placating, and deflecting the media, JJ would have been intimidated rather than irritated. Whatever unspoken test Elizabeth had forced onto her, JJ seemed to have passed as she requested JJ call her Elizabeth and leave her with her address so the next gala invitation she’d send to Emily would end up at her house.

The Ambassador and her daughter said their goodbyes just as impersonally as their hellos, but JJ knew by the set of Emily’s jaw and the way she moved down the hallway back toward the foyer that she was livid. It wasn’t until they got back into Emily’s BMW that JJ realized just how pissed her girlfriend was. They sat unmoving, the engine still off, while Emily gripped the steering wheel tight enough to turn her knuckles white, her eyes shut and clearly forcing herself to breathe rhythmically.

Emily was so lost in her stewing that she actually jumped when JJ laid a hand on her knee after a few tense minutes of silence. “I’m sorry.” Emily said quietly, her whole body relaxing and her expression open again. “Mother was _completely_ inappropriate.”

“Why are you apologizing to me?” JJ was shocked. “She was being horrible to _you_. If anyone needs to apologize, it’s her.”

Emily shrugged and chuckled humourlessly. “I don’t think she can possibly fathom me in a relationship where the other person wasn’t trying to angle something from the family name.” she dropped her hands away from the steering wheel and held the hand JJ had laid on her knee in both of hers. “I’m sure Mother had a blast though since she’s never met any of my girlfriends before.”

JJ tried not to let her surprise show. “Never?”

“No, I’ve never been this serious about anyone before.”

JJ felt emotion swell within her. “Can I kiss you?” she asked, closing the distance between them when Emily nodded.


	38. Chapter 38

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song is Alina Baraz & Galimatias – “Fantasy (Mark Ralph Re-Work).” Issa bop

_38\. “I like your laugh.”_

They had made it. Neither of them had been asked to resign, or reassigned to another unit, or been forced to terminate their relationship. Emily had a sneaking suspicion that Rossi had a lot to do with that, but when she confronted him about it, he pled the fifth. Still, she had thanked him anyway and Rossi had said that with their jobs, they deserved to keep happiness wherever they could find it for as long as they could hold onto it.

They were currently at a bar, blowing off steam after a long week. This was the first time they didn’t have to hide that they were a couple at a local establishment for fear of being outed to their superiors and it was rather nice, especially with the whole team there. JJ and Emily had been dancing most of the night, teetering on the edge of a pleasant buzz. A downtempo song had come on and they moved slowly together, JJ’s back pressed against Emily’s front, her arms reaching behind her to rest her hands on the back of Emily’s neck while Emily had a firm grip on JJ’s hips, her mouth next to JJ’s ear as she sang softly along with the song.

“I could be your fantasy, underneath the palm trees, you could leave your worries, listen to the waves, say you wanna get so high? Breathe me in like air tonight…”

JJ shuddered as Emily trailed off to press her lips to a spot just behind her ear. “Are you trying to seduce me, Agent Prentiss?” JJ baited.

“Absolutely.” Emily purred causing JJ to only half successfully bite back a groan. JJ not only heard Emily laugh, but they were pressed so closely together that she felt the vibration rumble through her spine as well.

“I like your laugh.” JJ sighed dreamily, surrendering herself to the music.


	39. Chapter 39

_39\. “Don’t cry.”_

Henry waved excitedly from JJ’s arms while making growling noises at the clouded leopard that was lounging in the shade and ignoring the people gathered at the edge of the open-air enclosure. JJ had wanted to take Henry to the National Zoo for a while and when they finally got a free day, that’s precisely what she did. She had ended up texting Emily to see what she was up to about half an hour after they’d gotten to the zoo because Henry kept asking where she was.

Emily spotted the pair before they saw her and waited a little distance away so as not to wade through the gathering crowd, smiling at Henry’s antics. JJ set her son down and held his hand as they turned around, smiling brightly and pointing Emily out when she saw her. He had recently gotten the hang of running and ‘fast’ was the only speed at which he moved lately. Henry shrieked and peeled away from his mother towards Emily when he saw where JJ was pointing, colliding heavily with her legs while stumbling over his words as he talked a mile a minute about what they had seen before she showed up.

“Oh yeah?” Emily responded interestedly, only catching about seventy-five percent of what he was trying to say but enjoying his enthusiastic report nevertheless.

“Hey you.” JJ greeted her girlfriend with a smile. “Glad you could make it.”

“Like I would miss Henry’s first trip to the zoo!” Emily scoffed, bending her arm when JJ looped hers under it.

They let Henry set the pace as they talked, the three year old staying only a few steps ahead of them and dictating when they stopped and for how long. “I wanna go in dere!” Henry said, as they passed the Great Ape House a while later. They followed him in; JJ helping him pull open the door while congratulating him on ‘using all those big muscles!’

“Momem, come here! Look wif me!” Henry demanded, looking back toward JJ and Emily from where he was practically squashed against the glass separating the visitors from the silverback gorillas. Emily shot JJ a questioning look, having never heard that particular moniker from him before. Emily gestured toward Henry and JJ shrugged, managing to only take two steps forward when her son shook his head. “No, Mommy!” he sounded exasperated in the way only a preschooler could and reached out a hand toward Emily. “I want Momem!”

JJ looked over to where Emily stood stock-still, eyes wide in surprise. She blinked slowly, disbelievingly almost, and looked back and forth between JJ, who was regarding her with amusement and Henry, who had turned back to the window to flatten his face against it. “He called you that earlier, when he was asking for you today.” JJ said softly. “I didn’t have the heart to correct him…is-is that okay?”

Emily turned to look at JJ fully, her mouth opening and closing several times like she was trying to say something, her expression one of wonder. “I…” she started, her voice cracking and her eyes filling with tears.

“Oh, Em,” JJ whispered as she reached up to wipe the tears from Emily’s eyes with her thumbs just a few escaped. “Don’t cry.”

Emily didn’t know what to say so she did the only thing she could think of and kissed JJ tenderly.

“Momem!” Henry called again impatiently, oblivious to the scene going on behind him.

“You’re up.” JJ reminded her with a final peck. She grinned as Emily seemed to snap out of her daze and went over to Henry to field his questions about gorillas.


	40. Chapter 40

_40\. “I made this for you.”_

“I’m sorry we didn’t get to spend our anniversary someplace nicer.” Emily said, her head on JJ’s chest and an arm slung around her waist. She felt JJ shrug.

“We can’t help when we get cases.” JJ pointed out, kissing the top of Emily’s head. “At least we got to share a room for it.” They were in a tiny border town in Texas.

“Garcia.” Emily said in explanation.

“Of course she did.” JJ chuckled, shifting in an attempt to get out of bed.

“Where are you going?” Emily asked, sitting up so JJ could get up.

“I’ve been keeping this in my go-bag for a week on the chance we’d get a case.” JJ said, crossing the room to where she’d left her go-bag on the writing desk against one wall and digging through it. She pulled out a small scrap photo album and got back into bed, handing it to Emily. “I made this for you.”

Emily leafed through the album curiously. It contained moments that had happened since they’d started dating; Emily and Henry covered in paint. JJ and Emily curled around each other on a couch, asleep, a picture clearly taken by Garcia. A doodle Henry had made of them. JJ and Emily with Henry between them. Ticket stubs to a concert they’d gone to. Henry cuddling Sergio…Emily smiled as emotion swelled within her. “It’s perfect.” She said, kissing JJ in thanks.


	41. Chapter 41

_41\. “Go back to sleep.”_

The distinct, shrill ring of JJ’s phone pierced the dark, shoving Emily roughly from her dream. She squinted at the bedside clock and groaned at the early hour, hoping irrationally that it was a wrong number.

“Jareau.” JJ answered, her tone all business despite the yawn she was stifling. “Yeah…got it…no, she’s here…uh-huh…okay, bye.” She hung up the phone and ruffled her hair, stretching her arms above her head.

“Case?” Emily grunted sleepily.

JJ nodded. “Go back to sleep.” She said, kissing Emily’s cheek. “I’ll wake you up when the coffee’s ready.”

“Mmkay.” Emily mumbled, already half asleep again.


	42. Chapter 42

_42\. “Is this okay?”_

JJ had driven them through North Versailles to show Emily where she’d gone to school at East Allegheny High, the bowling alley where she and her friends spent nearly every weekend, the park where she’d had her first kiss with Andrew Marsden. Emily had enjoyed hearing about JJ’s memories, but that had been ten minutes ago, now they were cruising through McKeesport four and a half miles away where the house JJ had grown up in was located. The closer they got to it, the more nervous Emily felt. She’d met the family of girlfriends in the past, but she had never been so anxious about making a good impression before.

They had plans to go to the triennial family reunion at the Jareau household later that year and JJ hadn’t wanted to overwhelm Emily with exactly how large her extended family was off the bat, so when they’d gotten a long weekend, they’d packed their bags and Henry into JJ’s car and drove to Pennsylvania to spend it with JJ’s immediate family.

“We’re here!” JJ announced excitedly, parking on the curb in front of a modest two story white clapboard house. She unbuckled her seatbelt and twisted in her seat to grab a hold of Henry’s leg and shake it gently to wake him up. “Henry, we’re here.”

Emily took a deep breath and got out of the car, staring up at the house apprehensively. “Is this okay?” she asked as JJ and Henry came around to that side of the car. “I mean, do I look presentable?”

JJ bent over slightly to address her son. “What do you think, Henry?” she asked with a smile, her eyes on Emily. “How does Momem look?”

“Pretty!” Henry yelled happily, pulling JJ’s hand in an attempt to drag her up the front walk. “I can ring the bell?” at JJ’s nod, he scrambled up the steps and jammed his finger against the doorbell several times.

“You’ll be fine, babe.” JJ promised, kissing Emily’s cheek before leading her up to the porch just as the front door opened.

“Gramma!” Henry shouted, jumping up and down as Sandy Jareau bent to pepper kisses on his face. “I’muna play!” He squirmed out of her grasp and darted into the house, leaving his grandmother on the porch.

“There’s my Jenny!” Sandy said, spreading her arms open as JJ made it to the porch.

“Hey mom!” JJ responded, hugging her mother tightly. She stepped back to motion for Emily, who was trying not to look stressed, to move forward. “This is Emily.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mrs Jareau.” Emily said sticking out her hand; JJ snickered at her use of her Ambassador Junior voice.

“Oh please, just call me Sandy! Jenny’s told me so much about you!” JJ’s mother insisted, surprising Emily by not shaking her hand when she grasped it, but pulling her into a warm hug which caused Emily to tense for a second before she relaxed and returned it.

“Is Thomas here?” JJ asked as they went into the house, leaving their bags in the car for later. Emily glanced around the living room while Sandy explained Thomas would be there by dinner. It looked lived in, the definition of homey, the opposite of the practically sterile environment of any of her Mother’s houses.

“Why don’t you show Emily around and rest a bit while I go spoil my grandson and get dinner situated?” Sandy suggested, disappearing down the hall and into the kitchen.

JJ played the part of the dutiful tour guide, starting where they were standing in the living room, past the dining room to the kitchen where they could see through the sliding glass door to the backyard where Henry was happily jumping on a trampoline with Sandy egging him on. JJ led them upstairs, glossing over her parents room, Thomas’ old room, and touching but not opening the closed door to Rosaline’s old room. “And this is where we’ll sleep.” JJ said, crossing the threshold to her old room.

Emily smiled as she walked into the space; it was very JJ. The walls were painted a pale shade of robin’s egg blue dotted with posters and pictures. In the far corner was a full-sized bed with a purple comforter, a white dresser across the room from it. Emily moved to the wall adjacent to the door where there was a set of shelves littered with soccer trophies under a corkboard covered with photos, debate ribbons, and Polaroid’s. She was studying a picture of JJ in her high school soccer uniform: her arms slung over the shoulders of two of her teammates, the three of them grinning widely at the camera, when Emily felt JJ wrap an arm around her waist, resting a cool hand under the hem of Emily’s shirt.

The brunette hummed contentedly until she felt JJ sweep her hair to one side with her free hand and place several kisses on the back of her neck. “JJ…” Emily drawled, her tone warning.

“What?” JJ asked innocently even though the hand she had against Emily’s stomach had started inching higher. “I’m not doing anything.”

Emily frowned and turned in JJ’s arms to face her, the blonde draping her arms around Emily’s shoulders. “I am _not_ going to defile you in your childhood bedroom.” She stated resolutely.

“That’s fine,” JJ replied, undeterred. She ran her tongue up the side of Emily’s neck, ending at with hard nip to her earlobe. “Since I was going to defile _you_ in my childhood bedroom.”

“Jennifer,” Emily sighed out, sounding much more concupiscent than the exasperated tone she’d meant to come out. “What about…” she trailed off helplessly, her train of thought derailed by JJ’s teeth raking gently along the side of her neck toward her collarbone and the blonde’s hand palming her chest.

“Mom will watch Henry until dinner,” JJ promised, punctuating her point with kisses between words. “And Thomas is sleeping in his room with Lillian and Ally when he gets here, so we probably won’t get another chance this whole weekend.” She drew Emily into a heated kiss, feeling triumphant when the older woman whimpered.

“At least lock the door.” Emily murmured dazedly when they broke apart, shoving JJ lightly away from her as she went over to the bed.

JJ smirked and moved to close the door. “That’s my girl.” She said, twisting the lock.


	43. Chapter 43

_43\. “I picked these for you.”_

JJ had a very eclectic music taste, which tended to be a revelation to people. She was cognizant of the fact that she looked like the type of person who only listened to pop ballads and country music and rather enjoyed the look of shock that would come over people’s faces when she caught a reference to some obscure metal band, or mouthed the words to a song that was only popular in contemporary jazz circles. Her taste in music was something that she and Emily had initially bonded over when Emily had been surprised on hearing JJ humming the tune to “Cities In Dust.”

That Emily had recognized the melody hadn’t surprised JJ much, as she’d always thought Emily had a ‘corporate goth’ vibe about her, but she had been delighted when it turned out that the older woman’s tastes were as eclectic as her own, peppered in with singers and bands from around the world that JJ had never heard of.

A few weeks ago, she had heard a song by Les Rita Mitsouko for the first time at Emily’s and had expressed interest in finding other music that sounded similar. Truthfully, she had completely forgotten about the conversation until they were tiredly boarding the jet after a case in Bellingham Washington and Emily had presented her with a playlist on her mp3 player that had JJ’s name on it.

“I picked these for you.” Emily explained, dropping into the seat next to her. “I couldn’t decide which you’d like better, so I might have gone a little overboard.”

“You wouldn’t be you if you didn’t.” JJ chuckled affectionately, sticking the ear buds in her ears and hitting play on the first song of the list.


	44. Chapter 44

_44\. “I’ll drive you to the hospital.”_

“Prentiss,” Derek pleaded exasperatedly. “You _have_ to go! You know the policy!”

“I’m _fine_.” Emily seethed, still clutching the side of her head, which their latest unsub, had used for batting practice.

“No, you blacked out! That means you have to go get checked out!”

“It was only for like three seconds!” she protested.

Morgan threw up his hands and grumbled something under his breath, stomping away from her. “JJ,” he petitioned, coming up to the blonde profiler and jabbing a finger behind him to where Emily was giving black looks to the paramedics who had picked up where Derek had left off. “ _Please_ do something aboutcha woman.”

JJ rolled her eyes but nodded, going over to her girlfriend and clearing her throat to get Emily’s attention. “Come on. I’ll drive you to the hospital.” JJ’s voice was amiable enough but Emily knew that the undertone brooked absolutely no argument so she followed JJ compliantly, shoving Morgan’s shoulder hard when he made a whip cracking motion with a sound-effect.


	45. Chapter 45

_45\. “What do you want to watch?”_

“What do you want to watch?” Emily asked as they stood peering at the movies listed on the display board behind the ticket counter.

“Didn’t I pick last time?” JJ asked thoughtfully.

Emily shook her head. “Technically, Henry picked last time.”

“Okay,” JJ drawled before pointing out a movie. “That one?”

“I can’t tell by the poster, is that a historical movie or a rom-com?”

“Yes?”

Emily laughed and pulled her into the line.


	46. Chapter 46

_46\. “You can go first.”_

“What are we going to do about vacation time?” JJ asked idly as they ate dinner. “They won’t let us take off at the same time, but HR says we _have_ to use the accrued days.”

Emily waved a napkin in front of Henry’s face so he would take the hint and wipe the pasta sauce off his chin. “You can go first.” Emily responded, taking a sip of her drink when Henry grabbed the napkin from her. “You need a break. Besides, I think it would be kind of nice to come here from work and have you here before me for once.”

JJ raised an eyebrow. “Emily Prentiss, are you trying to domesticate me?”

“Never.” She promised.


	47. Chapter 47

_47\. “Did you get my letter?”_

Emily hummed to herself, as she pulled into her parking spot, thankful to be back at work even though she had come there straight from the airport. She’d spent the last two weeks on her mandatory vacation that would have been blissful, if her Mother had not gotten wind of the event and requested (demanded) Emily stay with her in Prague. It certainly hadn’t been the worst experience she’d ever had with her Mother who was really making an attempt to change the nature of their relationship, but all the same Emily would have rather spent all fourteen days drinking wine directly from the bottle and watching Netflix. Stepping off the elevator on the sixth floor, she was greeted with welcome backs from her colleagues as she took a seat at her desk.

“If possible,” Derek teased from the desk across from hers. “You look even more pale, Princess!”

“The Czech Republic isn’t exactly known for sunbathing.” Emily retorted flatly.

“Besides, Morgan,” Reid chimed in. “You know vampires can only come out at night.”

“Ooooh! My boy got jokes today, look out!” Derek whooped, laughing at the pleased look on Reid’s face as he smiled bashfully.

“Where’s JJ?” Emily asked, looking around the office for her girlfriend and not seeing her.

“Coffee.” Morgan replied, beaming boyishly when Emily got up from her desk and distractedly grabbed her mug and made for the kitchenette. “No hanky-panky at the office now!”

Emily ignored him and strode purposefully to the kitchenette. These two weeks had really been the longest they’d gone without the level of contact they were used to practically since they’d met each other. They’d had the occasional phone conversation, but with the six-hour time difference and the nature of their jobs, they had done most of their communicating through texts.

“Jennifer.” Emily murmured on seeing her girlfriend who was resetting the coffeemaker after having poured the last cup.

JJ turned at the sound of Emily’s voice, her expression brightening considerably. “Hey!” she hastily made her way over to Emily and hugged her tightly. “When did you get in?” JJ asked, giving her a chaste kiss, the only type of romantic PDA they allowed themselves at work.

“I got into Dulles over an hour ago.” Emily said, unwilling to step out of JJ’s embrace but doing so when the temptation to kiss her more thoroughly became too great.

JJ cleared her throat uncomfortably, clearly thinking the same thing. “I’m glad you’re back.” She admitted as they walked back toward the bullpen. “I missed you.”

“Did you get my letter?” Emily asked lightly. She could have easily sent an email, she knew, but there was something special about getting a handwritten letter from someone that loved you who was far away. She grinned, knowing the answer when a blush immediately coloured JJ’s cheeks and she slid her eyes away from Emily.

“Yep.” JJ squeaked, clearing her throat again as they entered the bullpen.

“I thought I said no hanky-panky at the office!” Morgan accused with a laugh on noting JJ’s red face and Emily’s vainglorious expression.

“Get your head out of the gutter.” Emily demanded, still eyeing JJ and mouthing “later” when the blonde met her gaze.


	48. Chapter 48

_48\. “I’ll do it for you.”_

JJ had never considered herself to be a vain sort. She wasn’t naïve, she knew she was good looking—that people desired her—but it had never gone to her head before. She honestly didn’t think much of her physical appearance beyond what it took to get ready for a night out. But ever since that horrible night where she’d been tortured in a warehouse just days ago, JJ’s body had become her enemy.

She took a deep breath, gripping the edge of the counter in the master bathroom hard, trying to steady herself. JJ hadn’t looked at the electrical burn on her abdomen since the doctor had covered it before they sent her home, but the bandages needed to be changed. She slowly lifted her gaze to stare at herself in the mirror. Her skin was sallow, almost ashen, her cheekbones more prominent than they usually were, which wasn’t surprising considering she hadn’t eaten in days. Her eyes were red-rimmed and haunted, even her normally voluminous hair was dull and lifeless.

Keeping eye contact with herself so she wouldn’t look at her stomach, JJ carefully removed her t-shirt, wincing with the effort and dropped it to the floor. Left only in a black sports bra and pyjamma pants, she couldn’t help but have her eye drawn to the large white bandage on her side. She hovered a shaking hand over it before choking back a sob and turning on the cold tap to splash some water on her face. Trying to stop the rush of tears, JJ leaned over the sink and sobbed, hoping the sound of the running water would mask the sounds of her strangled weeping.

A tentative knock at the door alerted her to the reality that she’d been heard. “Jayje?” Emily’s hesitant voice was faint through the door but JJ could hear the concern in it.

She took several deep breaths, shutting off the water and wiping at her eyes. “I’m okay.” JJ called back in a watery voice. She had told Emily she wanted to change the bandages on her own and Emily had gone to put Henry to bed in an effort to do her best to respect the blonde’s wishes, but JJ knew the second she heard how shattered her own voice sounded that she would not be doing this alone.

“I’m coming in.” Emily informed her unnecessarily, opening the door slowly as if not to frighten her.

Part of JJ was grateful for Emily’s strong, understanding presence. But another part of her, the part that was still in shock, the part that was still in that warehouse with Tivon Askari, the part that had nearly tumbled off a building after Hastings, flinched at the thought of anyone really—but especially the brave, unflappable Emily Prentiss—seeing her in such a state. She’d always prided herself on being stronger than people gave her credit for, but right now? Right now she’d never felt weaker and she didn’t want anyone seeing her like that.

JJ didn’t look at Emily when she came into the bathroom, closing the door quietly behind herself; she just stared at the drain in the sink trying to keep herself from breaking down.

“It’s okay to not be okay.” Emily said softly after a moment of silence, placing a warm hand on JJ’s back, causing her to startle and meet Emily’s eyes with her own. She saw no condescending pity there, only support, compassion, and empathy. “You don’t have to be strong right now, Jennifer.” She promised. “It’s okay.”

As if she’d just needed the permission, JJ felt the dam burst and allowed herself to be pulled into the loose but comforting circle of Emily’s arms and she broke down, her wailing smothered against Emily’s shoulder.

“You did so good.” Emily murmured, running her long fingers through JJ’s hair. “I’m so proud of you…It’s okay, let go…I’m here…”

They stood that way for a long time, with Emily repeating herself until JJ’s sobbing quieted to broken hiccupping while she caught her breath and the tears subsided. “I still have to…” JJ whispered, taking a step back to gesture to the bandage on her side.

“I’ll do it for you.” Emily said tenderly, pressing her lips to JJ’s forehead before setting about the task of cleaning the wound and re-bandaging it.

JJ tried not to look as Emily carefully pulled the medical tape holding the bandage away but her eyes were glued to the raw, angry, red skin as it was slowly revealed. Her mind disassociated from the pain of Emily gently cleaning the burn so she could put the prescribed antibiotic cream on it, running through what had happened to her. “I saw you.” JJ blurted suddenly, her voice low and detached. “When I felt…when I felt like breaking.” She didn’t notice Emily’s hands still for a second at the revelation. “I wanted to give up, but then I saw you, so I didn’t…and then…you came for me…”

Emily stopped what she was doing and righted herself, lifting JJ’s chin slightly with an index finger to make eye contact. “I will _always_ come for you.” Emily’s voice was just as hushed as JJ’s had been, but there was a vehement conviction behind it.


	49. Chapter 49

_49\. “Call me when you get home.”_

JJ was on week two of desk duty for a guaranteed three-week minimum while she healed, after which she would get another medical assessment at the end of the month. She hated it. Mostly because not being out there with the team on a case really troubled at her (though she was happy to spend time at work with Garcia) but also because she had to leave early to go to physical therapy every other day and on the days she didn’t go there, she had to go see the FBI psychologist.

The physiotherapy wasn’t so bad, the physical pain she could handle just fine though her physical therapist was entirely too chipper for her liking. She didn’t care for the psychotherapist at all. The _last_ thing JJ wanted to do was rehash the events that led up to and included her kidnapping and torture but she went because if she didn’t, they wouldn’t clear her for duty but she actually talked in therapy because she had promised Emily she would. She had extracted the same promise from Emily after the confrontation with Ian Doyle.

“JJ,” her therapist—Byron Olmstead—prodded, breaking into her thoughts. “Where did you go just now?”

JJ shook her head as if to clear her mind. “Sorry. I’m just a little out of it. I didn’t sleep much last night.”

Dr. Olmstead nodded in understanding and jotted a note down on the legal pad in his lap before flipping back a page to verify something. “Is Emily still gone?”

“Yeah, the team is still in Nebraska.” JJ nodded. The day before yesterday had been her first night sleeping alone since the incident and she’d been exhausted since.

“Have you been taking the Trazodone?”

“Not since Emily’s been gone.” JJ admitted a little guiltily.

“You know that’s for more than just sleeping and that suddenly stopping a medication can be dangerous.” He pointed out.

JJ sighed. “I’m dead to the world on it. I’m worried something will happen with Henry in the night and I won’t wake up.”

Dr. Olmstead nodded again, making another note. “I’ll email the psychiatrist after you leave and let her know you need to have a discussion about readjusting your dosage.” He glanced at the clock on his desk. “Our time is up right now, but if you need to call me between now and our next session, will you?”

“Yeah.” JJ lied, getting out of the plush armchair she’d been sitting in and thanked the doctor, stepping out of his office. Taking a cleansing breath, she dug her phone out of her purse and saw that she had a voicemail from her mom and one from Emily. She tapped on Emily’s message and held the phone to her ear.

“Hey, babe.” Emily sounded tired. “I know you’re in therapy right now, but we just got a minute to get dinner and I wanted to see how you’re doing. Call me when you get home.”


	50. Chapter 50

_50\. “I think you’re beautiful.”_

Emily groaned, hips bucking into JJ as the blonde slipped her thigh between Emily’s legs. Emily’s wrists were crossed one over the other and pinned above her head in the tight grip of one of JJ’s hands while her other hand was roaming purposefully around Emily’s bare torso. Emily’s wrists curled as she half-heartedly struggled to free herself from JJ’s hold, JJ making a noise of disapproval in the back of her throat and biting down hard on the nipple in her mouth causing Emily to suck in air sharply through her teeth.

They hadn’t had sex in two months. At first, because JJ was healing and it just wasn’t feasible but when JJ had gotten her medical clearance to return to the field and “all other physical activity,” she had been weirdly self-conscious. She knew she was being irrational, knew that Emily didn’t care and had seen the now wrinkled pale flesh on her abdomen before it had healed and hadn’t flinched, but there was just something that kept holding her back. Emily had been more than patient, she had understood, but that night JJ had decided she was going to make love to her girlfriend no matter what the PTSD was whispering to her.

“JJ…” Emily huffed out trying to twist out of the grip on her wrists a little more earnestly and grunting when the blonde hummed in response. “I want…I need… _please_ ”

“Tell me.” JJ rasped, a shiver running through her at the begging note to Emily’s voice. She used her free hand to unbutton, unzip, and then roughly yank down Emily’s jeans. JJ ran a teasing finger just under the waistband of Emily’s underwear and nipped at her collarbone hard causing Emily to cry out and use the momentum from her arched back to wrench one of her hands free, grabbing the collar of JJ’s shirt and dragging her up to kiss her.

“I need to see you.” Emily whimpered when they pulled apart.

JJ nodded and sat up on Emily’s thighs to unbutton her blouse without breaking eye contact, shrugging out of the shirt after she undid the last button. She had expected to feel differently with her new scar exposed in this way. Shamed maybe, bashful certainly, but she didn’t feel either of those things. She couldn’t, not with Emily looking at her like that—her eyes so dark they were almost black, her cheeks rosy and her tongue unconsciously rolling over her swollen lips.

“You’re beautiful.” JJ murmured reverently, discarding her bra and supporting her weight with a hand on either side of Emily’s head to lean down and kiss her.

“I think _you’re_ beautiful.” Emily whispered back, deft fingers undoing the buttons on JJ’s pants and pushing them down now that her hands were free.


	51. Chapter 51

_51\. “Are you sure?”_

“I think we should move in together.” JJ stated in a matter of fact tone over dinner.

“You, think that we should move in together.” Emily repeated slowly. Her voice was hard to read but if JJ had to hazard a guess, she would have put it in the neighbourhood of ‘surprise.’

JJ nodded and sipped at her glass of wine. “I mean come on, we basically live together as it is.” She pointed out. “You’re pretty much only ever here when Will has Henry. Even Sergio already lives at the house. At this point, it’s kind of silly for us to have two different addresses, don’t you think?”

Emily had never cohabitated with a lover before, let alone one she was in a committed relationship with, and while JJ had very valid points, a little tickle of fear in the back of her mind told her that it was a terrible idea, that JJ would get tired of her and she’d have to start over again. Alone. “Are you sure?”

JJ seemed just as surprised at the timid tone of the question as Emily did and she moved her glass out of the way so she could take both of Emily’s hands in hers. “I _want_ to live with you, Emily.” She said earnestly. “This isn’t just for the sake of practicality.”

Emily heaved a sigh of relief and smiled. “Let’s move in together.”


	52. Chapter 52

_52\. “Have fun.”_

“Are you sure you don’t want to come?” Emily asked as she looked at herself in the mirror over their dresser to put on her earrings.

JJ, who was laying on their bed reading a book, looked past her son who was also ‘reading’ a book next to her to look at Emily and shook her head. “As much as I want to meet your friends, you haven’t seen them in a really long time.” JJ replied. “Go, catch up, I’ll meet them some other time.” She ran a hand through Henry’s hair; it was getting so long. “We’re going to unpack some more boxes, right Henry?” she laughed at the face he made at the suggestion even though they’d moved into their new house two weeks ago and were almost all unpacked. “ _I_ will unpack some more boxes while Henry watches cartoons then.” JJ corrected.

Emily turned and gestured vaguely at herself. “Do I look okay?”

“Way better than okay.” JJ replied after raking her eyes over Emily’s form appreciatively. She nudged her son to get his attention and tilted her head toward Emily when he looked at her questioningly. “Tell Momem goodnight, she won’t be here when you go to bed tonight.”

“Night-night!” Henry said, tilting his head back with his lips puckered and making an exaggerated smacking sound when Emily obliged him with a kiss.

“Night, buddy!” Emily responded, giving him a hug too. She half knelt on the mattress to lean over and give JJ a kiss as well. “I’ll try not to be gone too long.”

“Don’t worry about it.” JJ smiled, resisting the urge to run her fingers through Emily’s curled hair. “Have fun! Call me if you need a ride later!”


	53. Chapter 53

_53\. “Sit down, I’ll get it.”_

JJ dragged herself sluggishly into the kitchen, following the smell of food. Emily was making pancakes, Henry standing on a chair watching the batter firm up as it cooked to help.

“Smells good in here.” JJ said sleepily, sitting at the kitchen island. She had gone out to celebrate a friend’s birthday the night before and hadn’t made it home until after two in the morning so she wasn’t quite as chipper as she normally was in the morning.

“Good morning!” Emily greeted, turning around to glance at her.

“Hi, Mommy!” Henry said, not tearing his eyes away from the pan on the stove. “Wan a pancake?”

“Sounds good to me.” She yawned and glanced at the coffee pot, which was half full. “The coffee good?”

Emily nodded. “Just made it.” She turned when she heard JJ’s stool scrape against the floor. “Sit down, I’ll get it.” She insisted.

JJ nodded tiredly and watched as Emily poured and served it to her black. JJ took a sip and hummed appreciatively, tilting her head up toward her and making a plaintive sound, smiling slightly when Emily pressed her lips to hers. “Thank you.” She mumbled, waiting to feel more awake.


	54. Chapter 54

_54.“I made reservations.”_

“We’re never going to get in there.” JJ said with a frown while eyeing how full the restaurant she’d been wanting to try for date night was.

Emily smiled and pulled JJ through the glass doors up to a well-dressed man standing behind polished wooden counter who greeted them and informed them apologetically that they were full. “Two for Emily Prentiss at eight-thirty.” She said, watching him open and then run his finger down the list of names in a logbook.

“Ah yes, Miss Prentiss.” The maître d’ confirmed on finding her name and making a mark next to it. “Right this way, please.”

“I made reservations.” Emily explained obviously as they followed him into the spacious restaurant and passing the host several folded bills when he sat them at a table by the window.

“I tried making reservations last week.” JJ informed her after the maître d’ left them to get the bottle of wine Emily asked for when they sat down. “This place is booked solid for _months_.” She paused. “Not that I’m complaining, but you didn’t use your Mother’s name to get in here, did you?”

Emily tutted and shrugged delicately. “Of course not, I just made the reservations months ago.”


	55. Chapter 55

_55\. “I don’t mind.”_

JJ sighed, half asleep and rolled over towards Emily, snuggling into her side, letting out a pleased hum when she felt Emily start to run her fingers through her hair, pausing her ministrations after a few moments to turn the page of the magazine in her lap.

“Is the light bothering you?” Emily asked lightly. “Do you want me to turn it off?”

“No.” JJ mumbled, shaking her head. “I don’t mind.”


	56. Chapter 56

_56\. “It brings out your eyes.”_

“So?” JJ asked with a raised eyebrow, standing in the bathroom doorway. She was wearing a light blue négligée made of diaphanous satin and edged in black lace. She bit her lip in pleased frustration at the salacious look Emily was giving her.

“It looks horrible, take it off right now.” Emily replied with a grin.

“You’re such a nerd.” JJ chuckled, rolling her eyes and crossing the room to climb onto the end of the bed, sitting on her knees. “You like it though?”

“Mmhm.” Emily responded while beckoning JJ closer with a finger. She felt her mouth go dry when the blonde crawled towards her, a predatory look darkening her expression. “It…um,” Emily swallowed hard as JJ sat up with her knees on either side of her, bringing her mouth close to Emily’s but not kissing her. “It brings out your eyes.” She whispered thickly against JJ’s lips.


	57. Chapter 57

_57\. “There is enough room for both of us.”_

Emily unlocked the front door as quietly as she could and slipped off her shoes just inside the threshold so as not to make noise on the hardwood on the front hall. The house was mostly dark except for the foyer light, which had been left on for her, illuminating the bottom of the stairs. She moved past the stairs to meander down the hallway to the kitchen, noticing the blue light of the television in the living room bouncing off the wall.

Ignoring her quest for late night ice cream, Emily padded into the living room to find JJ bundled up on the couch, half-dozing as she watched TV. She looked up on hearing Emily enter the room and gave her girlfriend a weak smile. “You’re back.” She croaked, throat scratchy.

“You didn’t have to wait up for me, Jayje.” Emily said with a frown. “You’re sick.” She had texted JJ to let her know she was boarding the jet for home, but had neglected to text her again when they landed, thinking she’d have probably gone to bed to try and take care of the wicked flu she had picked up from Henry.

“I wanted to.” JJ replied, unwrapping herself from her blanket cocoon and holding the blanket open. “Come sit with me, there’s enough room for both of us.”


	58. Chapter 58

_58\. “You don’t have to say anything.”_

They were staying at a hotel outside of Dover, Ohio while investigating a string of mysterious disappearances. JJ was happy the motel was so small that they had to share a room; she hated sleeping apart from Emily when a case was going on, but they had both agreed that if they were assigned separate rooms, they would stick to them. The blonde was lying with her head on Emily’s chest, lazily tracing the outline of the iris tattoo high on the right side of Emily’s ribcage while Emily carded her fingers through JJ’s hair; both of them trying to unwind enough to go to sleep.

“Emily,” JJ started, her voice seeming loud in the face of how quiet they’d been thus far.

“Mmm?” Emily responded, not bothering to open her eyes.

“I’ve been thinking a lot about this, and I want you to do something.”

“Anything.”

JJ took a deep breath. “I want you to adopt Henry.” She felt Emily’s body tense in surprise beneath her, her fingers stilling in JJ’s hair.

“You want me to adopt Henry?” Emily’s voice was quiet.

JJ propped herself up on her elbow to look at her girlfriend who was watching her carefully and nodded. “It’s just…if anything were to happen to me,”

“JJ,” Emily interrupted, her grave tone indicating she didn’t like where this conversation was going.

JJ cut her off by pressing a finger to her lips gently. “If anything were to happen to me,” she repeated. “Or to our relationship, it would crush Henry to lose you too and you’re _such_ a good mom to him.” She pressed her finger more firmly to Emily’s lips when the brunette opened her mouth to protest. “You are.” She emphasized before removing her finger.

“What about Will?” Emily asked skeptically.

“I already talked to him about it, actually.” JJ admitted. “He wants to move back to New Orleans and understands that means he’ll be in Henry’s life much less. I’m never going to keep him from his son, and he knows that so he’s willing to concede parental rights to you.”

“JJ, I…” Emily trailed off, overwhelmed with emotions.

“You don’t have to say anything.” JJ assured her. “I’m not asking for an answer right now, just promise you’ll think about it?”

“I promise.” Emily vowed, already knowing she’d say yes but not wanting to make such a decision lightly.


	59. Chapter 59

_59\. “Wow.”_

“Are you almost done?” JJ shouted through the bathroom door after knocking on it. “The car will be here any minute!”

“It’s not going to leave without us!” Emily reminded her.

They were supposed to be going to an evening garden party at a manor in Delaplane after Elizabeth requested (demanded) their attendance, but if Emily didn’t shift it, they were going to be really late. “Your mom is gonna be really pissed if we’re late, Em.” JJ said.

Emily cracked open the door, her hair done, but still in her underwear and with no makeup on. “That’s the idea.” She said with a grin before closing the door again.

JJ rolled her eyes and shook her head, crossing the room to sit in the armchair by the bed. While Emily and her mother had been attempting to mend their relationship, Emily had been really furious with her lately. Apparently, when Emily had spoken to her mother about possibly adopting Henry, Elizabeth had given her the third degree about JJ’s ulterior motives. JJ hadn’t actually resented the woman much for the thought, not after Emily showed her how much money she’d already put into a trust fund for Henry that she’d started when JJ had been pregnant. She also had made one for Hotch’s son Jack.

Honestly, JJ had not accurately conceptualized the heights of Emily’s wealth. JJ had always figured that most of her money had been because Elizabeth was an ambassador and had married into the already wealthy Prentiss family. But Emily’s maternal grandmother and great-aunt had been from very old money in their own right. Her Great-Aunt Sadie had never had children with her husband who was also a high society type, so they doted on young Emily who was their favourite, eventually willing her almost all of their assets on their deaths in trusts which had been in her full access since she was twenty-one.

JJ wasn’t one hundred percent sure how much money it was exactly, she had told Emily she didn’t want to know and she truly didn’t, but Emily had made it very clear that she would never have to worry about money again and if she ever wanted to quit working for whatever reason, she could with no issues. It was because of all that, that JJ didn’t hold a grudge against Elizabeth for being cautious, even if she went about it in such a boorish manner. Especially because Emily was driven to take care of everyone she cared about in any way she could. Part of her was irritated with Emily’s mother for not having faith that her daughter knew what she was doing, but mostly she understood where Elizabeth was coming from. Emily, however, was holding enough of a grudge for the both of them.

“JJ!” their babysitter Lenore called from the hallway, knocking gently on the bedroom door.

“What’s up?” JJ asked after opening the door, wiggling her fingers at Henry who was being held on Lenore’s hip.

“Mommy you’re so pretty!” Henry exclaimed loudly, his arms wrapped around Lenore’s neck.

“Thank you, baby!” JJ said, ruffling his hair.

“There’s a chauffeur here for you guys!” Lenore informed her excitedly, bouncing Henry slightly.

“Could you tell them that we’ll be down as soon as possible? We’re running a little behind…”

“Yep, no problem!”

JJ thanked the younger woman and closed the door when she went back down the hall. “Em, the car’s here!” JJ informed her girlfriend exasperatedly.

“Almost done!” Emily assured her.

JJ sighed and sat on the end of the bed, crossing her legs impatiently. Ten minutes later, JJ looked up as the bathroom door finally opened and Emily stepped out, her mouth going dry at the sight. “Wow.” Was all she managed to mumble, stunned.

Emily was wearing a long, bright red maxi dress, which was held up by straps that tied behind her neck. “Mother _hates_ this dress.” Emily declared with a smile.

JJ shook her head clear of her daze and stood up, grabbing the purse she’d picked because it matched her black cocktail dress. “Why? I’ve always loved you in red.”

“She thinks this shade of red is gauche.” Emily said, clearly thrilled with herself. “Plus, it’s backless!” She turned around to prove her statement, the smooth expanse of her back showing from shoulders to waist, putting her back tattoo on exhibition.

JJ crossed the room and ran her fingers over the beautifully flourished calligraphy that read ‘Everything Is Beautiful And Nothing Hurt,’ delighting in the sharp intake of air Emily took at the sensation. “She’ll be _super_ pleased you’ll be having this on display.” JJ said sarcastically, tapping Emily’s tattoo. She rolled her eyes. “You’re incorrigible, Emily Prentiss.”

Emily turned and kissed JJ briefly. “She’s going to be _horrified_.” She said gleefully, pulling on a black pair of heels. “Ready to go?”

“Lead the way.” JJ replied, sweeping her hand in front of them and following her girlfriend with a shake of her head.


	60. Chapter 60

_60\. “Happy birthday.”_

“Ooooo!” Henry shouted, looking at Emily and JJ to make sure they were suitably impressed with the fireworks that had just gone off, turning his eyes back to the sky when he was satisfied with their reactions.

It had been a good day, JJ decided, leaning into Emily. They had walked along the blooming cherry blossoms after lunch before going to the Southwest Waterfront to catch the entertainment that culminated in a fireworks show in celebration of the Cherry Blossom Festival.

“Whoa!” Henry gave a loud, nervous laugh as several fireworks went off at once and Emily chuckled at the reaction, putting her arm around JJ’s waist and drawing her closer.

“Happy birthday.” Emily murmured, kissing the top of JJ’s head as more fireworks went off.


	61. Chapter 61

_61\. “I’ll pick it up after work.”_

They normally carpooled to work together, but had taken separate vehicles that Friday as JJ was planning on leaving early to take Henry to his dentist appointment. It wasn’t until Emily’s third trip to the coffee pot a thought struck her.

“Shit!” She swore suddenly.

“What’s wrong?” JJ asked, having overheard her just as she entered the kitchenette.

“I forgot to go to the dry cleaners yesterday and now I’ll have to wait till Monday.” Emily lamented.

JJ shrugged, her hand on the small of Emily’s back as she moved past her to the coffee pot. “Don’t worry, I’ll pick it up after work.”


	62. Chapter 62

_62\. “It can wait until tomorrow.”_

“Emily,” JJ said standing in the doorway of Henry’s playroom, leaning against the doorjamb and watching amusedly as her girlfriend tried to make some semblance of order in the chaos. “Will you _please_ come to bed? You’ve been cleaning all day.”

Emily looked up from where she was sitting picking up Lego pieces strewn across the floor and putting them back in the bucket where they belonged. “I just want the place to look nice when they come.” She replied, frazzled.

JJ’s brother, his wife, and their daughter—who was two years older than Henry—were coming to town the day after next to spend the weekend and Emily had been stress cleaning for the last several days. “Henry and Ally are just going to mess it up again.” JJ pointed out.

Emily blew a lock of hair out of her face that had come loose from her ponytail. “I know, but…”

JJ pushed herself off the doorframe and went over to Emily, holding out her hands to pull her up from the floor. “Why are you nervous? You’ve already met them, they loved you.”

Emily hauled herself up with JJ’s help and kept hold of her hands when she was standing. “I know, but that was at your moms house, before we moved in together. This is different.”

“Why is it different?”

Emily took a deep breath and looked at the ceiling like she was asking for strength. “I just…I know you guys are close and I don’t want there to be any doubts. About me, I mean…that I’m good for you and Henry. That I can take care of you.” She admitted softly.

JJ lifted a hand to brush her fingertips down the side of Emily’s face and smiled. “You _are_ good for us, and you _do_ take care of us. You don’t have to prove it to anyone.” She kissed Emily firmly. “Now come to bed.”

Emily glanced around at the mess still left in the room. “But what about,”

“It can wait until tomorrow.” JJ interrupted, leading her out of the room.


	63. Chapter 63

_63\. “Cross my heart and hope to die.”_

They didn’t fight very often, they never had. Emily was avoidant about things that bothered her sometimes, but she had gotten much better at sharing with JJ since they’d started dating, largely because JJ could be just as stubborn as Emily and she was very much the ‘talk it out’ type. JJ couldn’t recall what had started this particular fight, but they had both dragged it on for over a week, the pressures of work doing nothing but feeding into it.

Even Henry was starting to feel the tension, which was why JJ was willing to put her pride aside and call a truce. “Do you have a minute?” She asked, going into their bedroom where Emily was sitting up against the headboard, reading a book.

“Not if it’s to argue.” Emily muttered darkly, closing her book.

“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about.” JJ sighed and sat cross-legged on the bed across from Emily. They stared silently at each other for several tense moments, Emily’s expression guarded, before JJ ran a hand through her hair and made the overture to peace: “I’ve missed you.” She said. They’d been interacting perfectly cordially at work, and studiously avoided each other at home. Even when they’d gone to bed at night, they would turn away from each other, silently disentangling themselves in the morning after they’d gravitated to each other in the night. It was exhausting and JJ missed her best friend.

Emily’s gaze turned soft and she bit her lip nervously. “I missed you too.”

JJ let out the breath she’d been holding in relief. “I don’t want to fight anymore.”

Emily shook her head and tentatively reached a hand toward JJ, smiling slightly when JJ’s open hand met her halfway. “Me either.” She covered the top of JJ’s hand with her free one. “What were we even fighting about?”

JJ gave a breathy laugh and shrugged. “I don’t even remember, honestly.” She rose to her knees and moved closer to Emily, kissing her softly when the brunette tilted her head up. “But can we promise to not fight this long ever again?”

“Cross my heart and hope to die.”


	64. Chapter 64

_64\. “It’s two sugars, right?”_

The microwave beeped loudly and Emily pulled the hot bag out, pinching it open to let out the steam. “It’s two sugars, right?” she called into the living room while reaching for the sugar packets next to the coffeemaker.

“Yeah!” JJ replied.

“You are _so_ weird.” Emily informed her when she came back into the room and sat down, handing her girlfriend the bag of popcorn.

“I like it!” she defended herself, shaking the bag. “And it’s cheaper than buying kettle corn.”


	65. Chapter 65

_65.“I’ll help you study.”_

“We should go to Paris.” Emily announced abruptly as they drove to work. She glanced over at JJ and laughed at her expression. “Don’t look at me like that, I don’t mean right this second.”

“Okay, I’ll bite.” JJ humoured. “Why Paris?”

Emily shrugged. “I love Paris, it’s one of my favourite cities and I haven’t been in a long time and you haven’t been at all, so I want to share it with you. Besides,” she grinned. “It’s the most romantic city in the world! Don’t you want to make love in new and exotic locales?”

JJ snorted. “Emily!”

“What?!”

“It _would_ be nice to take a vacation somewhere far away.” JJ mused, ignoring Emily’s previous statement. “But my French is pretty rusty, I haven’t taken it since high school.”

“I’ll help you study!” She said excitedly. “Obviously, we should start with French kissing.”

“You’re such a nerd.”


	66. Chapter 66

_66.“Stay over.”_

Emily and JJ were consummate professionals at work. Sure, there were lingering touches, glances that lasted a little too long, but that was really no different than before they’d started dating. The biggest change between them was that they shared a bed every time they got paired up in a hotel room though they both agreed that they wouldn’t do anything considered past second base while on a case. They had also agreed that when they were assigned separate rooms, they would stay separately for the night in an effort to keep work as work-like as possible.

This was why Emily was alone in her hotel room, staring glumly at the ceiling well after midnight. This case had been hard on all of them. Child cases usually touched a nerve with everyone, but it was different when you had a child. It was different when your kid fit the victimology. She knew logically, that Henry was okay. He was at home, safely asleep with Lenore watching over him but her mind couldn’t stop replacing the lifeless faces of those little boys with Henry’s.

Emily had actually burst into relieved tears when she’d heard Henry’s voice that night after she called before he went to bed but that had been many hours ago and her initial relief had begun to wear thin. She sighed heavily and wiped a hand over her face. She wasn’t going to make it, she decided, getting out of bed. Emily wasn’t going to break the rules, not really, she’d go to JJ’s room just to have the blonde near for a while, until she could calm her mind, and then she’d come back and get some sleep.

Nodding resolutely, Emily grabbed her keycard and left her room, blinking in the relatively harsh light of the brightly lit hallway as she walked purposefully to JJ’s room. She had just raised her hand to knock softly when the door opened. JJ looked as tired as Emily felt and she could tell the case was weighing heavily on her as well.

“I was just about to come see you.” JJ confessed, moving aside to let Emily in.

“Are you doing okay?” Emily asked unsurely, slipping into bed behind JJ and wrapping her arms around the blonde when she laid her head on Emily’s chest.

“No.” JJ said quietly, her voice pained. “Are you?”

“No.”

“Stay over.” JJ whispered after a few minutes of silence.

“You know I can’t,” Emily started to protest.

“They’ll understand, Em. We need each other right now.”

Emily sighed. “Okay.” She agreed quietly, the fight having quickly gone out of her.


	67. Chapter 67

_67.“I did the dishes.”_

Henry had broken the dishwasher. Not on purpose, well, a little on purpose but he hadn’t known the whole door would come off when he jumped on it while Lenore was unloading it one night. They hadn’t been mad, not really; Henry was four, what did he know about the fragility of dishwasher doors? Besides, he was suitably remorseful and now he knew not to do that again. The problem, of course, was now they had to get someone out there to replace the door.

Initially, it hadn’t gotten done because they were on a case out of town and couldn’t very well have Lenore deal with it. When they’d gotten back to town, they’d been mercifully taken off rotation for a while, but that meant they all had to stay late to catch up on all the consults and case reports that hadn’t gotten done while they’d been out on active cases. Getting home mentally exhausted meant that the dishes started to pile up. Pretty soon, they were going to have to order takeout just to have something to eat off of.

JJ was surprised when her alarm went off and Emily wasn’t in bed beside her. She ran her hand over the sheet and found it cool to the touch, which was even more shocking as Emily was the antithesis of a morning person. Intrigued, she got out of bed and made her way downstairs to find her girlfriend already dressed and ready for work, sitting at the kitchen counter drinking coffee and reading the paper.

“You’re up awfully early.” JJ pointed out curiously.

“Couldn’t sleep.” Emily explained simply, kissing the blonde when she leaned into her. “I just made more coffee.”

JJ let out a pleased hum and went over to the coffeemaker to fix herself a cup when she noticed the double kitchen sink. Both sides were completely empty. She must have been blinking confusedly at it for too long because Emily laughed, drawing her gaze again.

“I did the dishes.” She said, going back to the paper.


	68. Chapter 68

_68.“You didn’t have to ask.”_

JJ sighed and flipped through the consult again. She hated bringing work home, but she was way behind on the consults that had been left on her desk and not wanting to stay at the office later than she usually did, she’d compromised by bringing some files home with her. She quickly closed the file when Henry came bounding into the room.

“Mommy!” he squealed, bouncing from foot to foot. “Will you drive to the park?”

JJ checked the clock on the wall and looked at the files she still had left to do. “I don’t think so, Henry, I have a lot of work to finish.” His face fell. “Why don’t you go ask Momem if she’ll take you?” JJ suggested.

“Kay!” Henry answered brightening and bolting out of the room.

JJ shook her head and went back to her consult, looking up again when she heard a soft knock on the open door.

“Can I take Henry to the park for a couple hours?” Emily asked, standing in the doorway uncertainly.

JJ laughed lightly. “You didn’t have to ask, Em. He’s your son too.” Her heart warmed at the sight of the goofy smile that spread across Emily’s face.


	69. Chapter 69

_69\. “I bought you a ticket.”_

“I was just thinking about your weird crush on James Murphy.” Emily mused from the couch, laptop in her lap and her feet propped on the coffee table. “What do you see in that guy?”

JJ looked up from her book and shrugged. “I don’t know, he makes good music and looks like an adorable mess.”

“He looks like a drunk uncle.”

JJ snorted. “So?” she replied defensively. “He’s cute! At least _I_ don’t have a crush on Dave Vanian, _Emily_.”

“He’s _way_ better looking than James Murphy, are you kidding?”

“That’s what all the goth kids think, babe.” JJ laughed when Emily scowled at her. “What made you think of James Murphy anyway?”

“Oh, right. LCD Soundsystem is playing in DC next week, so I bought you a ticket.”

“Aw, Em!” JJ gushed. “That’s so sweet, thank you!” she paused. “You’re not going to come?”

Emily shook her head. “I figure Henry and I can hang out, give Lenore a break from being over here all the time. Ask PG if she’ll go with you, we can get her a ticket too.”


	70. Chapter 70

_70\. “You’re warm.”_

Emily paced back and forth in the confined space. She’d split up from Morgan in the plant their latest unsub, Noel Burgess, was using as a torture field and had heard a noise that seemed to be coming from the ajar walk in freezer. Gun drawn, she had pulled open the door the rest of the way to check it out, thinking that Burgess had ducked in there. In hindsight, it had been stupid to actually walk into the freezer without Morgan nearby because the heavy door had slammed shut, Burgess looking through the small window in the door to grin as he locked the door before dashing away.

Because of the thick metal walls and insulation, all she was getting on her walkie was static and she couldn’t get reception on her cell. She was stuck there until Morgan noticed she was missing. Emily wasn’t one hundred percent sure how long she’d been in the freezer, but it was long enough that she had started to shiver uncontrollably, which was a bad sign. She unclipped her radio and attempted to make contact with Morgan again, answered by nothing but static.

She wanted to sit down, to rest for a moment, but resisted; Emily knew that doing that would lead to hypothermia faster, she had to keep moving. She rubbed her hands together to create some frictive heat before blowing forcefully on her numb fingertips. Emily leaned against the wall of the freezer, her Kevlar keeping some of cold from seeping into her skin. She hadn’t even realized that she’d slid down the wall to sit on the floor or that her eyes had closed until the loud scrape of the door opening made her shoot her head up from where her chin had been tucked into her chest.

“Emily!” Morgan shouted as he rushed over to her, gripping her by her upper arms and hauling her to her feet. “Are you okay?”

“C-c-cold.” She responded through chattering teeth. “S-s-sleepy.”

“Stay with me, Princess.” Morgan pleaded gently, practically carrying her out of the freezer. “Let’s get you out of here.”

“B-but…”

Morgan shook his head. “Rossi got Burgess trying to escape through the loading dock in back.”

Emily nodded, her feet dragging as they made it to the outside of the warehouse. JJ was standing with some of the local LEOs talking, but hurried over to them when she spotted them, supporting Emily from the other side.

“I’ve got her, Morgan.” JJ said as they carried her to one of the SUVs.

Derek nodded. “I’ll call the bus.” He murmured, shutting the door of the car as the two women got into the back seat.

JJ half climbed over the center consul to turn the car on, putting the heat on low before kneeling backwards on the backseat to rummage through her go-bag in the trunk, pulling out a travel blanket and wrapping it around Emily who was still shivering, but not as violently.

“You’re going to be okay.” JJ assured her, taking Emily’s cold hands and rubbing them in hers before bringing them up to her mouth and blowing warm breath over them.

“You’re warm.” Emily mumbled, leaning against JJ heavily.


	71. Chapter 71

_71\. “No reason.”_

Unless someone’s life depended on it, Emily didn’t consider herself a liar but she had lied to JJ about where she’d gone that evening. She had told her girlfriend that she was going to have dinner with an old friend who was visiting from London and JJ had simply kissed her goodbye and asked if she could pick up some dessert on her way home and Emily had lied. Not about getting dessert, she’d gone to Georgetown Cupcake after her secret errand and eating dinner alone at a sandwich shop but about where she had gone before that.

Emily parked in the driveway, noting that JJ’s car was gone with relief. She must have taken Henry to the park after they had dinner. Good. That would make this easier. She put the pink cupcake box on the kitchen island and swiftly made her way upstairs to the master bedroom where she took the small white bag from the jewelry store and took out its only contents: a small grey velvet box. Opening it, she looked at the ring; it was a simple platinum band with three sapphires set into it, two diamonds flanking the center stone. Emily hoped it would be good enough, she’d never even indolently entertained the idea of doing something like this before she and JJ had gotten involved so she wasn’t exactly sure what she was doing aside from following her gut.

Emily snapped the box closed and put it back in the paper bag, folding the bag around it to make a little parcel. She was just in the process of moving some of her clothes out of the way to nestle the small package under them to hide it from potential prying eyes when she startled at the sound of JJ’s voice.

“Hey, when did you get back?” JJ asked, raising her eyebrow suspiciously when Emily jumped and slammed the dresser drawer shut, spinning around to face her.

“JJ!” Emily exclaimed, trying to force casualness into the nervous edge to her voice. “What are you doing here?”

“Um, I live here?” JJ laughed and crossed the room to unplug her phone charger from the wall. She started walking over to Emily and Emily took several hurried steps toward JJ, trying to keep her away from the dresser. “Are you okay, Em?”

“Yeah!” She enthused, wincing at the fake exuberance of her voice. God, how had she ever made it in JTF-12?

JJ tilted her head and regarded her girlfriend warily. “Why are you acting weird?”

“No reason!” Emily cleared her throat, trying to get her voice back to normal. “No reason.” She repeated more calmly, pulling JJ closer so she could kiss her. “I bought cupcakes from Georgetown for dessert.” She said to change the subject.

“I saw the box on the counter! Did you get me a double chocolate one?”

Emily rolled her eyes and followed JJ out of the room. “Of course I did!”


	72. Chapter 72

_72\. “I’ll meet you halfway.”_

“No!” Emily said firmly, crossing her arms and shaking her head vehemently. “Absolutely not!”

JJ, aggravated, threw up her hands. “Why not? It’s only for the weekend!”

Emily had talked to her mother the previous week, shortly after buying the engagement ring, about her desire to propose to JJ in the near future and how she had no plans to ask her to sign a prenup, which Elizabeth had been less than enthusiastic about, to put it mildly. JJ had no clue about the conversation or Emily’s plans, but twenty minutes ago, Elizabeth had called JJ to invite them—Henry included—to stay the weekend with her at the McLean property while she was in the area. JJ figured she had gotten the call instead of Emily because Emily and Elizabeth were still fighting and she took it as a sign that Elizabeth wanted to make amends to not just Emily, but by inviting Henry; JJ as well.

“That’s the problem!” Emily declared. “It’s a whole weekend! She’s cleared her schedule, which means she’ll _be there_ the whole time! I am _not_ going to subject Henry to my Mother for three days!”

“Oh come on, Em, she’s not _that_ bad.” JJ nodded in helpless acknowledgement of the truth at the incredulous look Emily shot her. “Okay, so she isn’t the most maternal person in the world,” she conceded. “But she’s making an effort here! I know you’re still pissed, but she’s really trying and I promise you don’t have to be mad on my behalf.”

Emily dramatically flung herself into the armchair by the bed and scowled. JJ got up from the end of the bed where she’d been sitting and went around the end of it to stand in front of Emily, hands on her hips.

“How about a compromise?” JJ suggested diplomatically.

“I’m listening.” Emily replied crabbily, still frowning.

JJ sighed and lowered herself into Emily’s lap, the brunette’s malcontented expression didn’t change, but she put her arms around JJ’s waist to steady her. JJ draped an arm over Emily’s shoulder and with her other hand; she gently stroked the skin on Emily’s forehead with her fingertips, trying to uncrease her expression. With the hand she had behind Emily’s head, she tugged lightly on some of hair, which caused Emily to tilt her head up and JJ kissed her lingeringly. She smiled, satisfied, when Emily’s features smoothed out.

“Okay,” JJ proposed now that Emily was in a bit of a better mood. “How about this. We’ll go over on Friday and stay until Saturday. On Saturday, if you still want to leave, we can.”

“What if I want to leave before that?” Emily grumbled petulantly.

JJ shook her head and smiled cheekily. “I guess you could always use the safeword?” she laughed when Emily looked horrified.

“I am _not_ associating that with Mother. _Ever_.” She insisted fiercely. “In fact, now we’re fighting just because you suggested it.”

JJ chuckled impishly. “Work with me here, Emily.”

Emily tilted her head to lean against the back of the chair and closed her eyes like she didn’t want to be saying what she was about to say. “I’ll meet you halfway. We’ll go Friday; bags packed, and at least have dinner and socialize. If she’s being horrible, we leave after and save our weekend. If she’s not, we’ll stay until Saturday.”

“That’s not exactly ‘halfway’ but I’ll take it.”


	73. Chapter 73

_73\. “Take mine.”_

“What are you looking for?” Emily asked, watching her girlfriend, who was just in a bra and a pencil skirt, root around in her go-bag frustratedly.

“I think I packed a bunch of dirty clothes on accident.” JJ explained. “I don’t have a clean shirt.”

Emily went to her own go-bag that was that was sitting on the unused second bed in the room and pulled out a light blue dress shirt, holding it out to her. “Take mine.”


	74. Chapter 74

_74\. “We can share.”_

When JJ woke up totally alert, the first thing she noticed was that it was still dark. She looked at the clock on the nightstand, which confirmed that it was early even for her. The next thing she noticed was that Emily wasn’t in bed next to her. Raising herself up on her elbows, she looked toward the bathroom door, but it was open and dark. Wondering where her girlfriend had gone off to, JJ slipped out of bed and went down the hallway. She didn’t think Emily was in Henry’s room, but she peeked in on him anyway.

Illuminated by his nightlight, Henry was sprawled out on his back, one arm flung over his eyes and the other resting on his stomach. JJ smiled softly and seeing the rest of the rooms upstairs had open doors and were dark, she continued to the stairs, descending quietly. The overhead light was on in the front hall and she followed it into the kitchen.

The recessed lighting running under the cabinets was on, dimly lighting the room where Emily was sitting on the island countertop, swinging her legs back and forth slowly while she ate cereal out of a mixing bowl. She looked up when JJ entered and grunted a greeting while she chewed.

“What are you eating?” JJ asked, amused.

“Cocoa Dyno Bites.” Emily responded, leaving her spoon in the bowl to pat the counter space next to her. “We can share. They’re the perfect midnight snack.”

JJ rolled her eyes and hopped up on the counter next to her girlfriend. “Emily, it’s three o’clock in the morning.” She pointed out, but scooping a spoonful out and eating it anyway.

“But it’s midnight in California.” Emily countered. “My stomach is gay and therefore runs on San Francisco time.” She grinned, pleased with herself when JJ covered her mouth to muffle the sound of laughter.


	75. Chapter 75

_75\. “I was just thinking about you.”_

Henry had a bad bronchial infection and JJ was unwilling to leave him in the care of Lenore, though she was quite capable, while he was that sick so when the team went to Minnesota, she stayed behind to take care of her son with Hotch’s understanding. That had been three days ago and while JJ was plenty happy to be going home to Henry every night, she missed being in the field already, and she missed Emily. They hadn’t gotten to say more than a few sentences through text since the team had gotten to Saint Paul outside of her and Garcia’s calls about the case.

JJ’s cellphone jangling merrily and lighting a small bubble in the darkness of the room drew her attention out of her thoughts and she reached over to the nightstand for her phone, smiling when she saw Emily’s picture.

“Hey,” JJ greeted. “Are you finally done for the night?”

“Yeah,” Emily said, her tone apologetic. “Sorry for calling so late, but I only just now got back to the hotel.”

“It’s okay, I wasn’t asleep.” JJ admitted. “Actually, I was just thinking about you.”

“Oh yeah? Anything good?” Emily asked, her tone licentious.

“Emily,” JJ warned

“What?!” Emily exclaimed. “Maybe I just wanted to help you relax!”

JJ laughed at the faux innocent tone. “Keep it in your pants, Prentiss.”

“You’re no fun!” she grumbled good-naturedly. “Tell me about how Henry’s doing.”


	76. Chapter 76

_76\. “I want you to have this.”_

JJ sighed as she opened the front door. It had been a rough week and she was glad it was over. As she stepped through the threshold, she checked her watch confusedly. It was just after eight and the house was dark already. Emily had to be there because Lenore’s car was gone, Emily’s BMW parked in its customary place.

“Em?” JJ called into the house. “Are you home?”

“In here!” came the reply, which JJ followed through to the living room.

There were dozens of candles lit around the room and the coffee table had been moved off to the side to make room for the soft blanket that had been spread out over the floor. On top of the blanket was a plate with cheese and grapes arranged around it and a chilled bottle of white wine.

“What’s going on?” JJ asked cautiously, wondering if she’d forgotten something. She crossed the dimly lit room to where Emily was standing and hugged her girlfriend.

“I want you to have this, is all.” Emily replied, leading JJ to sit on the blanket.

“And what, exactly, is this?”

Emily shrugged and handed JJ an empty wine glass before starting to fill it. “We haven’t had time for a date night in a while and you’ve been staying later at work, so I figured this would be a good idea since we can’t go out.”

JJ smiled over the rim of her glass. Before they’d started dating, JJ wasn’t sure that she would have ever pegged Emily as such a hopeless romantic, but she was always surprising her.


	77. Chapter 77

_77\. “Call me if you need anything.”_

“Do you have everything?” Emily asked, watching JJ stuff her small suitcase closed. One of JJ’s distant relatives had died a few days prior and since they couldn’t both get off work, JJ was making the trip to Pennsylvania to be with her family solo.

“I think so.” JJ said with a frown, biting her lower lip. “You sure you’re going to be okay with Henry?”

“Yeah, Hotch said as long as we don’t get a case out of town, he’ll let me go home at five for the rest of the week.” Emily crossed the room and gathered JJ into a loose embrace, placing a kiss on her forehead. “We’ll be fine, but if you’re worried, you could always take him with you?”

JJ shook her head and leaned into Emily’s arms. “I don’t want to pull him out of preschool for the funeral of someone he doesn’t know.” She reasoned. “Besides, I trust you and it’ll be nice for Henry to get you all to himself for a while.”

Emily chuckled. “Call me if you need anything while you’re there.”

“I’ll probably call you even if I don’t.”


	78. Chapter 78

_78\. “Do you want to come too?”_

Emily looked up from her book as Henry climbed up on the couch next to her.

“Momem?” he asked hopefully. “Can we go to the park?”

Emily checked her watch and nodded. “Go put your shoes on.” She smiled when he squealed happily and scrambled off to get his shoes. Emily looked over to where JJ was sitting on the opposite end of the couch. She had been staring at the magazine in her lap unfocusedly, clearly not reading it. Emily suspected there was something up with her girlfriend lately, but she hadn’t wanted to press JJ about it.

“Jayje?” Emily called softly, apparently startling JJ from her thoughts. “I’m taking Henry to the park, do you want to come too?”

JJ sighed and ran a hand through her hair. She looked exhausted. “I think I’ll just try to take a nap while you guys are gone. Have fun though.”

Emily nodded and got off the couch, leaning over to JJ to press a brief kiss to her lips.


	79. Chapter 79

_79\. “I’ll still be here when you’re ready.”_

Emily was already awake when it happened again. It started with JJ’s low whimper and the blonde curling into herself as if for protection. That’s how it always started. Emily scooted in as close to JJ as she could and wrapped her arms around her girlfriend who had started to quiver. Emily soothingly ran her hand up and down JJ’s arm when it appeared that just holding her wasn’t going to placate her but JJ began to jerk and twist in Emily’s embrace.

JJ bolted upright with a loud, anxious cry, breathing erratically and clutching her side like it hurt. Emily sat up with her, her grip firm and steadying on JJ’s shoulders as JJ covered her face with her hands, still breathing hard. Emily pulled JJ into her compliantly and just held her while she came back down from her panic attack.

“It was a bad one this time, huh?” Emily murmured softly once JJ’s breathing had mostly returned to normal.

JJ sighed and sat up more fully. “This time?”

“You’ve been mostly sleeping through the night terrors once you realize you’re not alone.” Emily shrugged. “I wasn’t going to bring it up until you did, but…” she trailed off when JJ nodded. “Do you want to talk about it?”

JJ squeezed her eyes shut once and shook her head. “Can you just hold me right now?”

“Of course.” Emily laid back down, guiding JJ with her and she curled into Emily’s side with her head on the older woman’s chest. “We can talk whenever you want. I’ll still be here when you’re ready.”

JJ took a deep steadying breath, calming at the familiar scent of her girlfriend. “I think I should go back to therapy.” She admitted in a small voice.

Emily kissed the top of JJ’s head. “I think that’s a good idea.”


	80. Chapter 80

_80\. “Is your seatbelt on?”_

“Is your seatbelt on?” Emily asked before she started the car.

JJ rolled her eyes. “Yes, dear.”

Emily grinned as she pulled out of the driveway. “I was just checking.”


	81. Chapter 81

_81\. “Sweet dreams.”_

JJ fished one of the white, trapezoid-shaped pills out of the orange bottle on the counter and frowned at it for a moment before popping it in her mouth and drinking a cup of water from beside the sink. Replacing the lid back on the medicine bottle, she left the en suite and went into the bedroom where Emily was already laying on her side of the bed. JJ slipped under the covers and reached over to turn out the light on the nightstand before rolling into Emily, throwing an arm around the brunette’s waist.

“How was it?” Emily asked, referring to the fact that JJ had had her first appointment with a psychiatrist that day, a week after returning to therapy.

“Back on the Trazodone for a while.” She shifted as Emily rolled over to face her. “At least until I get some regular sleep. We’re going to talk about it again next month.”

Emily nodded and leaned over to kiss JJ’s forehead. “Sleep will be good for you. Sweet dreams.”

“Hopefully.” JJ responded ruefully.

“If it’s not, I’ll still be here.”


	82. Chapter 82

_82\. “I was in the neighbourhood.”_

“Hey,” JJ greeted her girlfriend as she walked in the front door. “What did you want to do for dinner?”

Emily smiled and held up two large brown bags stamped with the logo from MLK Deli on them that she had clutched in one hand. “Already taken care of.” She replied, depositing the bags on the kitchen counter and kissing JJ’s cheek.

“You went all the way to Congress Heights?” JJ asked skeptically, opening one of the bags.

“I was in the neighbourhood.” Emily shrugged when JJ looked at her dubiously. “I’m gonna go get Henry.”


	83. Chapter 83

_83\. “Stay there. I’m coming to get you.”_

Emily cursed and pressed a hand to her head, pulling out her cellphone and dialing JJ’s number. “Hey,” she greeted once JJ picked up. “I’m going to be really late tonight.”

“Are you still at work?” JJ asked. Emily could hear Henry shouting in the background and it eased her tension a little.

“No, I’m stuck on 495. Something’s wrong with the car and I can’t figure it out.”

“Did you call Triple A?”

“Yeah, but they said it’d be at least an hour before the tow got here.”

“Okay, well, stay there. I’m coming to get you.”

“You don’t have to do that, Jayje.:

“I know, I want to and I’m not really giving you a choice in the matter anyway.”

Emily snorted and rolled her eyes affectionately. “Okay, see you soon then.”


	84. Chapter 84

_84\. “The key is under the mat.”_

JJ pulled into the driveway of the Ambassador’s McLean mansion and frowned when she saw that Emily’s car wasn’t there. They had gotten the weekend off and Elizabeth had graciously lent them the use of her house to have a little staycation. JJ pulled out her phone and fired off a text to Emily:

‘ _I’m here already. Are you on your way?’_

The response came a minute later: _‘Sort of? I figured you’d get there first so just let yourself in. The key is under the mat.’_

_‘EMILY! This is a multimillion-dollar house! You can’t just leave the keys under the mat!’_

_‘It’s fine! Just go in and get a drink and get comfortable, I’ll be there asap :)’_


	85. Chapter 85

_85\. “It doesn’t bother me.”_

Emily hummed, half-awake and rolled over, cracking open one eye at the sound of keys tapping. JJ was sitting up in bed next to her typing away on her laptop, the blue-white glow of the screen illuminating her face.

“What’re you doing up?” Emily asked sleepily, yawning.

“Bad dream.” JJ explained, tearing her eyes away from the screen briefly to offer a small smile. “I wanted to get everything out before I tried to go back to bed.”

Emily nodded her understanding. JJ’s therapist had suggested she start keeping a journal and while resistant to it at first, it seemed to be doing her a lot of good. “Do you want to talk about it?”

JJ’s hands stilled on the keyboard and she ran the fingers of one hand through Emily’s hair briefly. “It’s okay, I don’t want to bother you with it.”

“It doesn’t bother me, Jayje.” Emily insisted, rising up on her elbow. “You can never bother me with anything you need to talk about, okay?”

JJ smiled softly and pressed her lips to Emily’s. “Okay.”


	86. Chapter 86

_86\. “You’re important too.”_

JJ was furious. Emily had gone into a hostage situation with no gun _and_ had taken her Kevlar off once she had gone inside. Granted, she had managed to talk the unsub down and into releasing his latest hostage, but that didn’t make JJ any less angry. Emily could tell JJ was mad; the blonde hadn’t spoken to her since they’d gotten onto the jet back to DC and the silence in the car on their way home was stifling.

JJ parked in front of their house and got out of the car after turning it off without so much as a glance in Emily’s direction. Emily winced when the car door slammed and slowly got out of the vehicle herself; not looking forward to whatever argument awaited her inside. She dawdled outside the front door for a few minutes before taking a fortifying breath in and going inside to face her girlfriend. JJ was leaning against the kitchen island with her arms crossed over her chest.

“I-“ Emily started, her hands up in a placating gesture.

“Just tell me what the hell you were thinking!” JJ interrupted. Her voice was low but forceful. Emily would have almost rather she be yelling.

Emily shook her head. “I did what I had to do.” She tried, tone frustrated.

JJ scoffed and her shoulders tensed. “You were reckless, Emily! Reckless and _stupid_. What if you hadn’t been able to talk him down? What if he had _shot_ you?”

“He didn’t.” Emily said with a helpless shrug. “And I _did_ talk him down. I couldn’t just let him leave with that little girl, JJ!”

“We wouldn’t have let him! God, if something would have happened to you, I…” she trailed off and let out a loud breath, squeezing her eyes shut briefly. “What were you _thinking_?”

Emily moved so that she was invading JJ’s personal space and gently tilted the blonde’s head to look at her with both hands on either side of her face. “Honestly, I wasn’t really thinking.” She admitted. “I just acted on instinct I guess. That little girl was too important.”

JJ reached up and covered Emily’s hands with her own. “You’re important too.”

“I’m sorry, Jennifer.” Emily whispered, kissing JJ softly.


	87. Chapter 87

_87\. “I saved you a seat.”_

JJ poured herself a glass of wine from the half empty bottle on Garcia’s kitchen counter and wandered into the living room where the rest of the party was mingling. She spotted Emily on the couch, laughing at something Garcia’s friend Kathryn had said and made her way over. JJ had been late showing up to Garcia’s ‘Girls Night Extravaganza’, which had included some of her outside the BAU friends so everyone had a head start on tipsiness but the atmosphere was pleasant and jovial.

“JJ, you made it!” Emily said with a smile. “I saved you a seat.”

JJ raised her eyebrow in question; the couch next to Emily was clearly occupied. “Did you now?” she asked amusedly, taking a sip of her wine. She gave a little shout of surprise when Emily reached out and pulled her down so she was sitting in the older woman’s lap.

“I did.” Emily confirmed, pressing her warm lips to JJ’s cheek.


	88. Chapter 88

_88\. “I’ll see you later.”_

Emily hoped that telling Garcia about her plans to propose to JJ soon wasn’t a bad idea, but she needed to talk to someone and it wasn’t like she was going to talk to her Mother about it. She had sworn Garcia to secrecy, of course, but she knew once Penelope had the ‘hot goss’ on something, it wouldn’t remain a secret for very long. Still, she needed someone to bounce ideas off of so Emily had to take the risk. Which was why she was getting ready to meet Garcia for dinner. She had managed to disinvite JJ to Girls Night by planting the idea that it would be good for her and Henry to have some time together and luckily, JJ had agreed.

“I’ll be back in a couple hours.” Emily said, breezing into the living room to give Henry a kiss goodnight.

“We’ll be here.” JJ responded good-naturedly, tilting her head up so Emily could kiss her too. “Don’t feel like you have to rush.”

Emily smiled and resisted the urge to kiss JJ again. “I’ll see you later.” She promised.


	89. Chapter 89

_89\. “I noticed.”_

“Mommy,” Henry whined, squirming around in his chair. “I’m not _hungry_.”

JJ rolled her eyes knowing full well that he’d be asking for a snack in fifteen minutes whether or not he ate his dinner. “Okay, just eat half, please?” she bargained.

Henry stared down at the hotdog on his plate distastefully. “The bun too?”

“Yes, the bun too.” JJ confirmed.

Henry groaned but dutifully took a bite of his food, making a great show of the effort he was using to chew and swallow. “Momem!” he shouted around a mouthful of hotdog when they heard the front door open and close. He started to bolt out of his chair but was stopped by the stern look on JJ’s face.

“Hotdog first.” She reminded him. “Hey, babe.” She said as Emily strode into the dining room, smiling as Emily kissed the top of Henry’s head. “How was dinner with PG?”

“Great!” Emily replied. If JJ hadn’t known Emily as well as she did, she wouldn’t have caught the nervous tone to her voice, but she did and she had. Emily cleared her throat at JJ’s inquisitive look. She knew she wasn’t going to get away with this much longer; she’d gone out to dinner with Garcia six times in the last two weeks. She offered her girlfriend a tight smile and turned on her heel to go into the kitchen.

Emily got a glass from the cabinet and filled it with cold water from the fridge and sighed. This was definitely not going to fly for very much longer, but she just couldn’t settle on the best way to pop the question and it was getting harder to keep JJ from what she was planning. Emily jumped at the sound of JJ’s voice behind her.

“Are you okay?” JJ asked.

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?” Emily said, setting her half-empty glass on the counter and pulled JJ towards her by the belt loops on her jeans.

JJ shrugged and looked away from Emily’s prying gaze. “It’s just, you’ve been a little…weird lately?”

“Weird?”

“I noticed.”

Emily smiled and kissed JJ’s forehead. “It’s just, I’m working on something important.”

JJ tilted her head slightly. “Care to share?”

Emily grinned. “Soon.”


	90. Chapter 90

_90\. “You can tell me anything.”_

“Okay, spill it.” JJ demanded as she closed the door to Garcia’s lair behind her.

The blonde hacker spun in her chair and looked at JJ with a frown. “Spill it? Spill what?”

JJ crossed her arms. “Tell me why you and Emily have been going out so often and why she’s been acting so weird at home.”

Garcia’s eyes grew wide and she waved her hands back and forth in a ‘no way’ gesture. “Oh God! JJ! She’s _not_ cheating on you!” JJ’s loud laugh cut off the panicked babble that was threatening to spill past Garcia’s lips.

“Cheating on me? Garcia, _why_ would I think she was cheating on me?”

Penelope shrugged. “Acting weird? Incessantly going out without you? Late nights?” she stopped listening reasons when JJ held up a hand.

“Okay, fair. If you weren’t you and Emily weren’t Emily, I might be suspicious, but we both know that Emily isn’t a cheater and even if she was, there’s _no way_ you’d keep that to yourself.”

Garcia grinned at that. “True! But I can’t tell you what’s going on.”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s _definitely_ something you need to hear from her.” She clasped her hands in front of her and her expression turned pleading. “ _Please_ don’t make me tell you, JJ! I _promised_ and it’s a super important promise this time!”

JJ bit her lower lip in thought and nodded. “I’m going to figure it out, you know.” She promised.

“Just be patient for once in your life!” Garcia called after JJ as she left her office.

The ride home from Quantico was quiet, but not in an uncomfortable way. JJ had been observing Emily most of the day, trying to figure out what her girlfriend was up to. Whatever was weighing on Emily, it was something she wasn’t willing to talk to her about and it was something that had kept her tightly wound recently. JJ felt like she had a good suspicion, but daren’t even entertain the idea in case it was wishful thinking.

“Em,” JJ started a bit haltingly.

“Hmm?” Emily acknowledged, glancing away from the road for a second to look at her.

“You can tell me anything, you know that, right?”

Emily smiled warmly though her expression was a little confused. “Of course I do. Did you have something in mind?”

“No, I just wanted to make sure you knew.”


	91. Chapter 91

_91\. “I hope you like it.”_

JJ closed the front door, having just seen Henry off to his sleepover with Aunt Penny and made her way into the kitchen where Emily was putting lasagna in the oven. She slid up behind her girlfriend and wrapped her arms around Emily’s waist as she righted herself and closed the oven door.

“What ever are we going to do with the house to ourselves tonight?” JJ asked suggestively, pressing a kiss to the dip where Emily’s shoulder met her neck.

Emily turned in JJ’s arms and grinned. “I have some ideas,” she admitted, backing JJ up against the island counter and kissing her soundly. When JJ deepened the kiss, Emily lifted her by the hips and put her on the counter, the blonde’s legs automatically wrapping around Emily’s waist to bring her closer.

“Emily,” JJ groaned as the aforementioned woman raked her teeth gently down the side of her neck.

“Hmm?” Emily replied distractedly as her hands made their way under JJ’s shirt.

“You know we…have to _eat_ on this counter…right?” JJ managed to get out, raising her arms above her head compliantly as Emily lifted her shirt off.

“Yes, I plan on it.”

JJ giggled breathlessly and pushed Emily gently away from her with a hand on her collarbone but not relinquishing the hold she had on Emily’s waist with her legs. She cupped the side of Emily’s face with one hand and kissed her slowly. JJ pulled back slightly to start a path of kisses down Emily’s jaw and neck. She was unbuttoning Emily’s shirt, kissing each patch of newly exposed skin when she felt more than heard Emily mumble something. “What?” JJ murmured. She sat up and looked at her girlfriend with concern when Emily stilled her hands with both of hers.

“I said,” Emily took a deep breath and kissed the tips of JJ’s fingers. “Marry me, Jennifer.”

JJ’s eyes grew wide and her heart leapt in her chest. “Wha?” she asked unintelligently, totally unprepared.

Emily bit her lower lip and looked down for a second. “You know, I was trying to plan this out to be perfect and special…that’s what I’ve been doing with Garcia lately. I wanted to have flowers and candles and maybe music?” she shook her head. “And then, just now, it occurred to me that every moment I have with you is perfect and special.” She let go of one of JJ’s hands and reached into her pocket, pulling out a small, grey velvet box. She looked up at JJ who had tears standing in her eyes. “I’ll be honest, I’ve never even imagined doing something like this before, but…I hope you like it.” She opened the box and turned it so it was facing JJ, grinning when JJ did.

“Oh, Em…” JJ whispered, flexing the fingers of her left hand as Emily slipped the ring on her finger. “It’s perfect. _You’re_ perfect.” She pulled Emily into a heated kiss, delighting in the way the metal band felt on her finger.

“So is that a yes?” Emily asked playfully when they pulled apart.

JJ rolled her eyes. “Yes!”


	92. Chapter 92

_92\. “I want you to be happy.”_

“Do we _have_ to invite my Mother?” Emily whined as they were going through their invitation list for the wedding.

JJ laughed and nudged Emily’s shoulder with her own. “I thought you guys were getting along better?”

Emily grumbled something under her breath and shrugged. “Mostly,” she admitted. Their shaky relationship had found more solid footing recently when Henry had decided to start calling Elizabeth ‘gramma’. “But she’s going to want to treat this like a political event.”

“Okay, but do you want to suffer the wrath of _not_ inviting her?”

“No,” Emily drawled with a petulant sigh.

“We’ll make sure to put on hers that it’s a very strict plus one, deal?”

“We could always elope?”

“Run away to Vegas and get married by Elvis at a drive through chapel?” JJ laughed when Emily nodded enthusiastically. “I don’t think so.”

“You’re no fun.” Emily pouted through her smile.

JJ plucked Emily’s list of names from her hands and dropped it on the floor before sliding into Emily’s lap and kissing her. “Are you _sure_ about that?”

“Yes?” Emily whimpered, her breath hitching when JJ pushed her roughly into the backrest of the couch.

“Aw,” JJ smirked and tugged Emily’s shirt over her head, tossing it behind her. “That’s not good for my reputation, is it?” Emily swallowed thickly and shook her head meekly, her hands automatically going to JJ’s back as the blonde claimed her lips again. “Tell me what you want, Emily.” JJ purred into the brunette’s ear, a prurient shiver running down her spine at the responding moan.

“I guess,” Emily sighed, raking her blunted nails down JJ’s back underneath her shirt teasingly. “I want you to be _fun_.” She smiled up at JJ cheekily when the blonde sat back to hear her answer.

“Oh you want me to be _fun_ , do you?” the dark tone of JJ’s voice held promise and Emily’s mouth went dry at the sound of it. “Well,” she kissed Emily briefly, nipping at her lower lip and pulling back before either of them could deepen it. “I want you to be happy, so _fun_ is what you’ll get.” She slid off Emily’s lap and pulled the brunette with her by the hand, Emily following compliantly towards the stairs in an anticipatory daze.


	93. Chapter 93

_93\. “I believe in you.”_

Emily lifted her left hand over her face as she lay in the hotel bed, marveling at the engagement ring on it. She hadn’t been expecting one, but JJ had been excited about the idea of picking one out and far be it from her to deny JJ anything within reason (and some things without as well). The band was made of white gold with interesting filigree framing the single sapphire in the center. It was simple, a bit understated unless you were really looking at it, and Emily loved it.

She’d only had the ring for a few days and wasn’t quite used to feeling it around her finger but truthfully, she kind of liked that. Every time she was tempted to fiddle with it, she was reminded of her fiancée. Her phones text alert chimed in the darkness of the room and Emily rolled onto her side facing the nightstand so she could get it. She smiled at JJ’s name displayed over the text.

‘ _I can’t sleep :( wish you were here._ ’ It read.

Emily huffed out a silent laugh as she composed a response: _‘I’m only across the hall.’_ They’d been on this case in Billings, Montana for nearly a week.

_‘Yes but you’re not HERE and thus my problem. Can’t we screw the rules just for one night?’_

_‘I have a feeling it’s not the rules you want to screw…’_

_‘Me? No! I can’t help it if YOUR mind is in the gutter ;)’_

_‘We have to be back at the station in seven hours’_

_‘That’s all kinds of time! Think I can get back to my room in six and a half hours?’_

_‘I believe in you’_

_‘Be right there’_


	94. Chapter 94

_94\. “You can do it.”_

Their latest unsub, Robert Wilson, was sitting in the interrogation room with Rossi and Reid, calmly deflecting all of their attempts to goad him into a confession. They had enough circumstantial evidence to hold him, but they needed a confession and there was a very good chance that there were more bodies than the ones they knew about. With a heavy sigh that wasn’t _quite_ one of defeat, Hotch rapped gently on the glass of the two-way mirror to signal to his agents to come back into the viewing room.

“This guys not going to give us what we want.” Rossi said once the door was closed behind him. “I thought he’d at least connect with Reid, but…”

“Take JJ in.” Emily suggested, looking away from Robert drumming his fingers on the tabletop to face the team. “He was doing all of this because of his unrequited crush on our first vic, right?”

Hotch nodded along, picking up her train of thought. “JJ does fit the profile better than you do… And her ring may represent another woman unavailable to him. It might work. JJ?”

JJ shook her head slightly. “I don’t know if I can,”

“You can do it.” Emily cut her off gently. “You got this.”

JJ nodded firmly and motioned toward the door. “After you.” She told Rossi.


	95. Chapter 95

_95\. “Good luck.”_

“Henry William LaMontagne,” JJ shouted sternly from the bottom of the stairs. “You better get your butt back into bed!” She heard Henry’s hurried footsteps as he came scurrying out of his room to the top of the stairs.

“But I’m not _tired_!” He whined, dangling his stuffed rabbit in one hand.

“How do you know you’re not tired if you won’t try and go to sleep?” JJ countered.

“ _Because_ I’m not!” Henry shouted back as if that was final.

JJ rolled her eyes exasperatedly. “Will you at least _try_?”

Henry huffed. “I want Momem to come sit with me then.”

JJ nodded. “Okay, get into bed and she’ll come right up.” She went back into the living room when Henry bolted back into his room. “Henry wants you.” She informed her fiancée who looked up in question when she entered the room.

“What’s wrong?” Emily asked, already getting off the couch.

“He’s ‘not _tired’”_ JJ said, doing her best whiney Henry impression. She smiled when Emily laughed and swatted the brunette as she walked past her. “Good luck!”


	96. Chapter 96

_96\. “I brought you an umbrella.”_

JJ frowned as she and Emily made their way back to the lobby of the theatre. It was pouring out. She tugged on Emily’s hand that was tucked into hers and inclined her head toward the glass doors leading outside.

“Can we wait until it’s not raining so hard?” JJ asked hopefully.

Emily laughed. “It’s just water.” She pointed out.

“I know,” JJ pouted. “But I don’t like to get wet.” She rolled her eyes when Emily raised a suggestive eyebrow. “Don’t even say what you’re thinking, I can see it on your face.”

Emily grinned and shrugged. “I guess you’re lucky I brought you an umbrella then, huh?” she pulled out the small travel umbrella from her coat pocket and handed it to JJ. “I saw it was supposed to rain today.” She explained.


	97. Chapter 97

_97\. “I’ll pick you up at the airport.”_

“Are you _sure_ this is okay?” JJ asked as she watched Emily situate Henry in his booster seat in the backseat of her car.

Emily closed the door and looked over the hood of the car at her fiancée incredulously. “We are literally about to drive to the airport, JJ.” She pointed out flatly, opening the driver’s side door.

“I know,” JJ replied, sliding into the passengers seat and buckling her seatbelt. “But I just…feel kind of bad that Garcia planned this bachelorette thing in Vegas and you’re just going to be here alone…”

Emily chuckled and started down the road towards Reagan National. “It’s not like Garcia really gave you a choice in the matter.” She joked. “And you act like Morgan hasn’t already planned something.”

JJ laughed. “I’m _sure_ I don’t want to know.”

“I don’t even think _I_ want to.” Emily admitted with a smile. “What’s Garcia got on the menu for you guys?”

JJ craned her neck to check on Henry who was happily watching cartoons on Emily’s tablet. “Honestly? I’m not sure.” She answered, turning around again. “Knowing Penelope though? There will be strippers and liquor involved.”

“I’d be disappointed in her if they weren’t. At least try not to get arrested or anything.”

JJ scoffed. “I should be telling _you_ that! You and Morgan are terrible influences on each other.”

“There’ll be other people there!” Emily said defensively before smiling and glancing over at the blonde. “But yeah, you _are_ like eighty percent of my impulse control.”

“I just wanted you to admit it.”

Emily laughed and shook her head and they slipped into easy conversation until they arrived at the drop off point where Emily pulled up to the curb and got out of the car to retrieve JJ’s bag from the trunk while she said goodbye to Henry.

“See you Sunday?” JJ said after closing the backseat door and pulling up the handle on her suitcase.

“I’ll pick you up at the airport.” Emily promised, kissing her.

“I’ll text you when we land.” JJ said when they pulled apart. She knocked on the back window and waved brightly at Henry when he looked up from the tablet, smiling as he waved vigorously back, his muffled ‘bye Mommy!’ coming through the glass.

JJ leaned toward Emily for another kiss, which she gave her willingly, pulling back before either of them was tempted to deepen it. “Go!” Emily said with a laugh, shooing JJ toward the door. She waited until her fiancée was through the door and out of sight before she got back in the car and headed for home.


	98. Chapter 98

_98\. “Take a deep breath.”_

“This is the _worst_ time to get a case!” JJ lamented, dropping her go-bag onto the desk that took up one side of the hotel room.

Emily snickered and dumped her own bag onto the bed before toeing her shoes off and pulling her shirt over her head. “It’s not like serial killers would really respect our wedding plans, Jayje.”

JJ groaned and shrugged out of her dress jacket, tossing it indelicately on the back of the desk chair. “I know! But who knows how long this case is going to take, and then we have all the follow up paperwork, not to mention all the consults that aren’t getting done while we’re on an active case, _and_ we’re getting _married_ in less than ten days, and,”

“Take a deep breath.” Emily cut her off, crossing the room and put her arms around her. “It’ll be _fine_.”

JJ pouted and hooked her arms around Emily’s neck. “But everyone’s already coming to town and we’ve already booked the venue and paid the caterer…”

Emily kissed the blonde softly. “It’s going to be okay.” She said soothingly. “This case will take, what? Probably a week tops, if that? We’ve been through what the locals have done and they’ve been really thorough so I’ll be surprised if it takes as long as that. Hotch isn’t going to let us miss our own wedding, even if we leave work to do.”

“I guess…”

Emily kissed JJ’s forehead. “Worst case scenario, we’ll push it back if we have to.”

“Emily…” JJ sulked. “We can’t just cancel everything.”

Emily smiled and released JJ so she could get ready for a shower. “Sure we can! I don’t know about you, but I only plan on getting married once and since I’m only going to do it once, I want to do it right.”

“What happened to eloping in Vegas at a drive through chapel?” JJ teased, starting to unbutton her shirt.

Emily shrugged. “That was before we sent out the invitations.” She reasoned. “My Mother has made it clear that she’s coming no matter what, so what the hell, right?”

JJ snorted and shook her head. “That’s _definitely_ what your fiancée wants to hear eight days before you get married: ‘ _what the hell_?’”

Emily shimmied out of her pants and went over to the bathroom, stopping in the doorway. “Wanna shower with me?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.

JJ frowned. “What about the second base rule?”

Emily shrugged and tilted her head toward the interior of the bathroom before unhooking her bra and tossing it on the floor.

JJ sighed and muttered “What the hell?” to herself and followed Emily into the bathroom.


	99. Chapter 99

_99\. “Be careful.”_

“This is ridiculous.” Emily complained while shoving some clothes into her go-bag. “We already live together, Garcia!”

Penelope shook her head from her position perched on the edge of the seat of the armchair near JJ and Emily’s bed. “I don’t make the rules, Pumpkin, I just enforce them!”

JJ, who was sitting cross-legged on the bed with Henry in her lap, laughed. “Yeah, but isn’t that rule for couples who don’t live together?”

“Or know each other in the Biblical sense?” Emily added, mindful of little ears.

Garcia shrugged. “Maybe,” she admitted, “but trust me, you’ll appreciate getting married more if you spend the night before apart.”

Emily frowned. “How do you know? You’ve never been married before.”

“I am the All Seeing, All Knowing Oracle of Quantico. I just _know_. Now chop-chop.”

Emily grumbled and trudged into the bathroom to collect her toiletries. She was going to be spending the night at Morgan’s while Garcia stayed with JJ, according to Garcia, so Emily couldn’t sneak over in the night. While Emily felt like it was a little ridiculous, her complaining was mostly perfunctory as she was pretty excited.

“Okay, I think I’m done.” Emily said, exiting the bathroom. “Morgan’s already got my clothes for tomorrow so I should be set.”

“Momem,” Henry said, climbing out of JJ’s arms and draping himself over Emily’s go-bag. “I wanna go to Uncle Derek’s too!”

Emily smiled at him and tickled his sides, causing him to laugh and roll off her bag. “You’ll see him tomorrow, buddy.” She said, putting her toiletry bag in the front pocket of her bag. “At the wedding.”

“I’m gonna be the ring bear!” He declared excitedly.

“You sure are!” Emily agreed. “Give me a hug and a kiss and I’ll see you tomorrow.” Henry obligingly gave Emily a hug and a loud kiss on her cheek. Emily moved to the side of the bed and leaned over toward JJ. “You too, Miss Jareau.”

JJ grinned and wrapped her arms around Emily’s neck. “Be careful.” She cautioned, kissing Emily gently.

“What makes you say that?” Emily asked curiously when they pulled apart.

“I just know what you and Morgan get up to on your own, is all.” JJ said with a smirk.

“I think I’ll manage to stay out of trouble until tomorrow.” Emily promised, rolling her eyes.


	100. Chapter 100

_100\. “I love you.”_

The wedding had gone off without a hitch in the late afternoon. When they’d said their vows, there hadn’t been a dry eye in the house. Even the stalwart Elizabeth Prentiss had cried. The reception was well attended though now as it was nearing midnight, everyone but close friends, immediate family, and the happy couple themselves had departed and those that were left were on their last leg.

JJ and Emily had been on the dance floor most of the night with Henry, but now their son was half asleep in Sandy’s lap and they were lost in their own little world. JJ had discarded her heels several songs ago as they were killing her feet, which Emily quietly preferred since it made JJ shorter than her again.

Emily sighed contentedly as the latest song ended. “Do you want to go sit and rest your feet?” she asked, already knowing the answer since she had asked the same question the last five songs.

JJ lifted her head from Emily’s shoulder and shook her head. “One more song?”

Emily smiled and twirled JJ out in a short spin. “Whatever you want, Mrs. Prentiss.” She said when she had her back in her arms.

JJ grinned and put her head back on Emily’s shoulder as they swayed slowly to the music. After a few songs, the song they’d used for their first dance came on signaling the end of the playlist and they softly sang the lyrics to each other, sharing a chaste kiss as the song came to a close. They stood in the middle of the wooden dance floor smiling gently at each other for a few moments until JJ looked away first, sweeping her gaze around the room to find they were alone.

“They didn’t even say goodbye.” JJ said. Though she didn’t sound disappointed, Emily knew she’d wanted to at least see her mom before she took Henry off to Pennsylvania with her for the next few days while they spent a quick honeymoon at home.

“We’ll call him tomorrow.” Emily assured, tugging on JJ’s hand to lead her off the dance floor when she yawned. “Let’s go home.”

JJ nodded and followed compliantly. They gathered their things and headed out to Emily’s car, the brunette opening the passengers side door for JJ before getting in herself. They held hands over the emergency brake well, unwilling to relinquish their contact. The ride home was comfortably quiet, both of them a little sleepy from the events of the day and the fact that neither of them had slept much the night before.

Emily parked the car and JJ followed her wife up to the front door, waiting for her to unlock it. Emily pushed the door open and looked back at JJ with a mischievous grin before swiftly scooping JJ up in her arms to carry her over the threshold, causing JJ to yelp in surprise.

JJ laughed as Emily carried her over to the couch, playfully dumping the blonde onto the soft cushions. She didn’t let go of Emily’s neck as she fell though which resulted in the brunette toppling down on top of her, both of them smiling. JJ ran her fingers through Emily’s hair, loosening the slight curls even further, her ring catching a bit of Emily’s hair and pulling it. Emily laughed at the sensation and took JJ’s hand in hers, kissing the simple platinum wedding band that sat on top of JJ’s engagement ring.

“We’re married.” She stated in awe.

“Yeah, you’re stuck with me now.” JJ grinned, kissing Emily softly. “I’m not tired anymore; you?”

“I could stay up.”

“Wine?”

“I insist!” Emily rose up off the couch and pulled JJ up, kissing the blonde soundly before shooing her towards the stairs.

JJ quickly made her way up stairs and stripped out of the wedding dress she’d gotten from her mother, throwing on Emily’s favourite oversized t-shirt before padding back down to the kitchen. JJ stood in the entryway to the kitchen for a moment, watching Emily reach into the cupboard for wine glasses wearing a tank top and boxers from the laundry room with a wide smile which Emily returned when she turned around to find JJ staring at her.

“I love you.” JJ said, taking a now full wine glass from Emily and grabbing the bottle as they went back into the living room.

“I love _you_.” Emily returned automatically as they settled down to find something to watch on TV while they drank their wine.

It was well after two in the morning, so they settled on a terrible black and white B monster movie on a classics channel and took up trying to make each other laugh with running commentary. One movie turned into two and Emily looked down at JJ who was lying against her.

“Do you think it’s a bad omen,” Emily wondered during a commercial. “That we're not spending our first night married making love the whole time?”

JJ smiled and lifted her head to kiss the underside of Emily’s jaw, which was all she could really reach at that angle. “What are you talking about?” she asked, tightening the arm she had around Emily’s midsection. “We are.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song they're dancing to at the end is "Hazy" by Rosi Golan


End file.
